A highly charged discussion on cell tower radiation this

The study,commissioned by COAI and Association of Unified Telecom Providers of India last year to measure emissions from 300 locations in Mumbai,Delhi and Pune,revealed that the radiation levels from the cellular base stations were much below the “compliance limit of International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) standards”. The study was done by IIT-Madras,Thiagarajar College of Engineering (Madurai) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (Chennai).

In Mumbai,the study was conducted at 96 locations,including Worli seaface,Jaslok Hospital,Raj Bhavan,Marine Drive,Trident Hotel,Taj Hotel,Nair Hospital,Phoenix Mills,Hinduja Hospital,Bombay Scottish School and Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Results showed emissions levels were several times lower than permissible limit,ranging from two times lower (Baba Ambedkar Park) to over 11,000 times lower (Hyderabad Estate).

Stating that one should work on scientific principles and not come up with coloured views,the COAI representative said studies have confirmed that radiation levels from mobile phones/base stations,which are within permitted exposure limits,do not cause any adverse effect to human health.

The findings were contested by Girish Kumar,professor at IIT-B’s electrical engineering department. “In India,we have adopted very relaxed radiation norms of 4.7 W/m2 for GSM 900,whereas serious health effects have been noted at as low as 0.0001 W/m2. ICNIRP guidelines are meant for six minutes per day exposure. If we’re talking about 24-hour exposure,safety limits must be increased,” said Kumar.

His report on cell tower radiation,submitted to the DoT in 2010,said absorption of electromagnetic field radiation from a cellphone penetrates the skull of an adult by 25 per cent,that of a 10-year-old by 50 per cent and a five-year-old by 75 per cent.

Kumar pointed out that people living within “50 to 300-metre radius are in the high radiation zone” and more prone to ill-effects of electromagnetic radiation. “Biological effect of cell tower radiation can include sleep disruption,dizziness,altered reflexes,depression,cardiovascular problems etc. A mobile phone can have biological effects ranging from memory loss to DNA damage,” he said.

Kumar was backed by several citizens,including actress Juhi Chawla,at the workshop. Sunil Kapoor,a Kandivali resident,said after two base stations were set up at his seven-storeyed building in 2009,his five-year-old daughter developed squint in her eyes. “She was subsequently diagnosed with tumor in the brain stem in 2010 and died in August 2011. I’ve managed to get one base station removed,but the second is yet to go,” said Kapoor,who lives on the fifth floor.

An inter-ministerial committee report this year on electromagnetic field radiation had recommended that radio-frequency exposure limits in India may be lowered to 1/10th of the existing level. “Even this level is very high and should be lowered 100 times,” said Kumar. Union Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora,who inspected radiation levels of mobile towers in the Haji Ali area,announced the formation of a complaint centre for citizens to file their mobile tower-related grievances.