All is well with the level of radiation from mobile phone towers in the city, if results of random checks on less than one-third of the base transceiver stations (BTS) by the Department of Telecommunications are any indication.
“So far, not a single BTS has crossed the limit,” said G. Satyanarayana Reddy, Deputy Director General of Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cell of the department, sharing results of tests conducted on 7,233 such facilities by his office in Bangalore.
Addressing a press meet here on Monday, Mr. Reddy said within a 50-km radius from Kempe Gowda Bus Station there were 26,489 BTS. A continuing process, the tests over four years found that 90 per cent of the BTS were emitting “well below the limit.” (The BTS equipment is responsible for carrying out radio communications between the network and phone).
The meet was convened by Cellular operators Association of India (COAI) to release videos, in which experts in the fields of physics and medicine dispel, what it said, were various myths about mobile emission.
TERM Cell is required to check 10 per cent of the BTS every year, Mr. Reddy said, adding that the locations where tests were conducted were chosen randomly. His office also acted on the 70 to 100 complaints it receives every month, the trigger for many, he explained, was jealousy of neighbours making money by letting out the space for the BTS. He also sounded a note of caution and said it was not advisable for people to stay at a height similar to that of the antenna and within 10 metres. He urged the COAI to expedite the setting up of a website to provide information about the radiation levels of BTS, initially in a few telecom circles and eventually across the country.
COAI director-general Rajan S. Mathews said, “Myths without any reasonable scientific basis have been floated by people with vested business interests that the electromagnetic emissions from the antennas lead to health hazards. Various researches, including those by the World Health Organisation, have stated that there were no conclusive evidences to fear for health effects from mobile tower antennae and phones.
