Pune: The government will initiate penal action against private cellular companies from November 15 this year, if radiation emanating from their towers is found violating internationally accepted norms, Union Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot said on Saturday.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will be monitoring the radiation levels of the estimated five lakh cellphone towers in the country to ensure that they are in conformity with the guidelines laid down by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) to safeguard public health, he told reporters here.
The violator companies will be fined Rs. 5 lakh per tower, Mr. Pilot said, adding that the government had issued instructions for strict implementation of radiation norms.
“Companies should take care of health of citizens”, he added.
Mr. Pilot said the government would strengthen telecommunication infrastructure in the Naxal-affected and tribal belts of Jharkhand and Bihar so that the people living in the region do not feel cut off from the rest of the country.
“Naxalites try to target mobile towers in their operations. We won’t allow telecommunication infrastructure to suffer,” the Minister added.
Referring to modernisation plans for postal services, Mr. Pilot said the government is working on “project arrow” to improve their infrastructure with computerisation.
PTI