Lok Sabha Question No. 464 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-20
Subject: Towers in Residential Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: PONGULETI SRINIVASA REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.464 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  JULY, 2016

## TOWERS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS

## 464.   SHRI PONGULETI SRINIVASA REDDY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  National  Human  Rights  Commission  has  issued  notice  to  the Government in the wake of allegations in a complaint that mobile towers in the vicinity of residential areas, emit radiations that are hazardous to human health;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the strategy/measures the Government is adopting/planning to adopt to ensure that no substantive damage is caused to the life and health of human and other living beings;
- (d) whether as per Government order dated 21.08.2013, the local self-Government institutions  should  confirm  that  the  proposed  towers  do  not  come  within  500  m  of schools/hospitals, but it does not cover residential areas and due to this order mobile operators  are  violating  the  safe  radiation  range  and  are  erecting  towers  in  thickly populated residential areas; and
- (e) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to address the problem?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b) Yes,  Madam.  Law  Division  of  National  Human  Rights  Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice dated 02-06-2016 in case no. 233/90/0/2016 to Ministry of  Communication  and  Information  Technology  in  respect  of  a  complaint  regarding impact of EMF emission from mobile towers on health. A suitable reply to the notice has been submitted to the Commission inter alia bringing out the following:

'With regard to impact of Electromagnetic Field (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 indepth review of scientific literature,  has  stated, ' Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. ' WHO has concluded - ' current evidence does not confirm  the  existence  of  any  health  consequences  from  exposure  to  low  level electromagnetic fields '.

WHO  in  its  Fact  Sheet  No.  304,  May  2006  on  Electromagnetic  Fields  and Public Health (Base Stations and Wireless Technologies) has concluded that ' From all  evidence  accumulated  so far,  no  adverse short  or long  term  health effects  have been shown to occur from the RF Signals produced by base stations /elipsis.. considering the  very  low  exposure  levels  and  research  results  collected  to  date,  there  is  no convincing  scientific  evidence  that  the  weak  RF  Signals  from  base  stations  and wireless networks caused adverse health effects. ' Also, in September 2013, WHO in online  question  and  answers  have  mentioned  that  " Studies  to  date  provide  no indication  that  environmental  exposure  to  RF  fields,  such  as  from  base  stations, increases the risk of cancer or any other disease."

Further,  several  High  Courts  viz  Hon'ble  High  Courts  of  Punjab  &  Haryana, Madras,  Kerala,  Gujarat,  Delhi,  Himachal  Pradesh  and  Allahabad  have  dismissed petitions, where the mobile tower installations were challenged on grounds of health effects of EMF radiations at various locations including residential.

(c) Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have been monitoring global developments and has already taken necessary steps and adopted stricter norms for safety  from  EMF  emmissions  from  mobile  towers.  Government  of  India  has  been taking  due  precautions  and  necessary  actions  in  respect  of  EMF  radiation  emitted from  mobile  towers  through  various  guidelines  &  norms  issued  from  time  to  time taking  into  account  the  international  standards/norms.  Presently  the  norms  for exposure limit  for  the  Radio  Frequency  Field  (Base  Station  Emissions)  in  India  are already  10  times  more  stringent  than  the  safe  limits  prescribed  by  International Commission  on  Non  Ionizing  Radiation  Protection  (ICNIRP)  and  recommended  by WHO.  Further,  Government  of  India  has  taken  adequate  steps  to  ensure  that Telecommunications Service Providers strictly adhere to these prescribed norms.

All new mobile Base Transmitting Stations (BTS) sites start radiating commercially only after ensuring adherence to prescribed norms and after submission of  self  certificate  to  this  effect  to  relevant  Telecom  Enforcement  Resource  & Monitoring  (TERM)  field  offices  of  DoT.  In  order  to  ensure  compliance  to  the prescribed  stricter  precautionary  norms  of  EMF  radiation  from  mobile  tower,  the extensive audit of compliance of self-certificates being submitted by telecom service providers and Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites is carried out by TERM field units of  DoT. In case, any BTS site is found to violate the prescribed EMF norms, actions are taken to put a penalty of Rs. 10 lakh per BTS per incidence including closing of BTS site, if the violation persists. Additionally, the BTS sites against which there are public complaints are also tested by TERM Cell.

(d) & (e) The  main  conclusion  from  the  WHO  reviews  is  that  EMF  exposures 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) are already 10 times more stringent than the safe limits prescribed by ICNIRP and recommended by WHO. Making the norms ten  times  stricter  than  what  has  been  prescribed  by  ICNIRP  and  recommended  by WHO, obviates the need for having separate norms for special localities like schools, hospitals  and  residential  areas.  Further,  Government  of  India  has  taken  adequate steps  to  ensure  that  Telecommunications  Service  Providers  strictly  adhere  to  these prescribed norms.

Accordingly,  the  advisory  guidelines  issued  by  DoT  to  state  governments  on 01.08.2013 for issue of clearance for installation  of mobile towers do not place any restriction on installation of mobile towers in public buildings/places such  as residential areas, schools, hospitals, playground etc.

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