Lok Sabha Question No. 2972 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Law for Mobile Towers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Mahabali Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2972 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  MARCH, 2020

## LAW FOR MOBILE TOWERS

## †2972. SHRI MAHABALI SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has enacted any law to set up mobile towers in view of public health concern related to radiation exposure;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the extent to which the said law has addressed the health concern of human beings and animals?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a) to (c) Yes, Sir. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has taken necessary steps and adopted  stricter  norms  for  safety  from  Electromagnetic  Field  (EMF)  emission  from  mobile towers.

With regard to impact of EMF emissions from mobile towers on health, World Health Organization (WHO), has referred to approximately 25,000 articles published around the world over  past  30  years,  and  based  on  an  in-depth  review  of  scientific  literature,  has  concluded  -' current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields '.

The  main  conclusion  from  the  WHO  review  is  that  EMF  exposure  below  the  limits recommended in the International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) international guidelines do not appear to have any known consequence on health.

In  India,  norms  for  exposure  limit  for  the  Radio  Frequency  Field  (Base  Station Emissions) has been fixed 10 times more stringent than the safe limits prescribed by ICNIRP and recommended by WHO. The present emission norms as laid down for Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) installed at various mobile towers in India are as follows:

| Frequency Range     | E-Field Strength (Volt/Meter)   | H-Field Strength (Amp/Meter)   | Power Density (Watt/Sq.Meter)   |
|---------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 400 MHz to 2000 MHz | 0.434 f ½                       | 0.0011 f ½                     | f / 2000                        |
| 2 GHz to 300 GHz    | 19.29                           | 0.05                           | 1                               |

(f is frequency in MHz)

In 2014, a Committee, comprised of members from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) Kharagpur, Kanpur, Delhi, Roorkee, Bombay and from other scientific institutions of the country including  Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research  (ICMR)  and  All  India  Institute  of  Medical Science (AIIMS) Delhi, was setup at the behest of High Court Allahabad, Lucknow bench. The Committee, in its report, has noted, inter-alia, that ' there are no conclusive evidence to establish any causal link between the effect of EMF radiation from BTS with biological effects described in cell models, animals or humans, and any possible resulting health effects .'

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