By Telecom
Lead Team: Public health and safety is an important subject and the government
will ensure that electro-magnetic radiation from mobile phones and towers
across the country is within prescribed limits, according to minister of
communications and information technology Kapil Sibal.
Science and
technology offer new hazards and solutions that throw up a constant conflict
between two public interests. But human health is fundamental and should be
placed two steps ahead of scientific solutions,” he said at an international
conference organized by ASSOCHAM.
Sibal said the
government recently set up an inter-ministerial committee which concluded that
emissions from BTSs are one-hundredth of prescribed limits, and hence safe for
human beings.
We will soon
be conducting online checks on BTS stations to ensure that there is no danger
emitting from BTS towers.”
Vijaylaxmi,
professor at the department of radiation oncology at University of Texas Health
Science Center, said there is no scientific evidence worldwide to prove that
electromagnetic radio frequency signals emitted by mobile phones and towers
cause brain cancer and tumor.
TV
Ramachandran, chairman of ASSOCHAM committee on communications convergence,
said the explosive growth of telephony in India has led to 900 million
subscribers and five lakh cell phone towers.
The industry
believes in an effective system on health information and communication
designed in consensus by scientists, government, industry and public to raise
the level of general understanding about the mobile communications industry,
and reduce any mistrust and perceived fears, he said.
BK Rao,
chairman of ASSOCHAM committee on health and hospitals, said mobile phones are
equipment of today’s needs and the medical community has not yet documented any
major risks on human health.
ASSOCHAM
secretary general D.S. Rawat said various studies show that electro-magnetic
fields produced from mobile handsets and BTS are found at a relatively low end
of spectrum and are non-ionising radiation – that is the energy carried by them
are unable to break chemical bonds in molecules.
Paolo Vecchia,
chairman of the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection,
and Mr C.K. Chou, chairman of the US-based Institute of Electricals and
Electronics Engineers, called for harmonisation and evolving a common framework
of standards to be followed globally.