New Delhi: Trashing fears that radiations from mobile towers cause health hazards, the government on Friday said no such adverse impact has been established so far and the country follows the best of practices.
"In 2010, WHO has stated that a large number of studies have been conducted over last two decades to assess whether mobile phone radiation from towers pose a potential risk. To date, no adverse health effect has been established," Minister
of State for Communications Milind Deora said.
"So, the point I am making is that the jury is out in
terms of the ill effects of this," he said during Question
Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
However, he said an inter-ministerial committee has been
set up recently to look into the matter in a holistic way and
according to the panel`s suggestion, India has adopted the
best practices which only 10-20 per cent of the world follow.
"We moved to a regime which is more stringent than
International Convention for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
(ICNIRP) and that is followed by about 10-20 per cent of the
world," Deora said.
ICNIRP sets the standards for permissible radiation limits
from towers. Almost 70 per cent of the world adopts ICNIRP.
"The government has taken many steps to prevent any effect
from radiation from mobile towers and also to build capacity.
Our ministry`s goal is to increase tele-density," he said.
India`s tele-density currently stands at 75 per cent and
72 per cent of that is wireless.
He said in its forthcoming new telecom policy, the
government may incetivise operators by allowing them access to
carbon credit.
"In the new policy, we hope to finalise very soon, we have
tried to move towards green telecom and are looking at other
ways like using solar panels or may be allowing carbon
credit," he said.
Deora said, "We are very concerned about the subsidised
diesel being used by private companies or public sector
companies for commercial purposes." A telecom tower consumes
around 8,500 litres of diesel a year, he added.
PTI
