To clear ‘myths and misconceptions’ about radiation from mobile phone towers, the government on Tuesday launched a portal, ‘Tarang Sanchar’, to allow people to check electro magnetic radiation (EMF) compliance status of mobile towers.
Detailed information about any tower site, if requested, will be sent on email to the users. Additionally, any person can request for EMF emission measurement at a location by paying a nominal fee of ₹4,000 online, the Department of Telecom (DoT), which has launched the portal, said.
Launching the portal, Manoj Sinha, Minister of Telecommunications, hoped the site would help clear “myths and misconceptions” about mobile towers and emissions from them. The portal has the complete collated technical details of over 14.5 lakh base stations spread across the country of all technologies (2G, 3G, 4G) and of all telecom service providers (TSPs).
He said the portal empowers any common person to know, at a mouse click, about towers working in a particular locality and whether these are compliant to the EMF emission norms defined by the government.
The tests will be conducted by the local Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) field unit of DoT and the test report will be provided on request.
The portal also has ‘EMF Overview’ and ‘Learn’ sections that would provide numerous articles, booklets and videos, to further educate the citizens about EMF and coverage of telecom services. Public can also access the ‘DoT Initiatives’ section, which has information on various leaflets, articles and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), it said.
G2B service In addition to government-to-citizen (G2C) services, the portal also facilitates government-to-business (G2B) service delivery in a transparent and eco-friendly manner, the DoT said.
According to industry experts, such move can help people get more educated on radiation norms. DoT and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India have also conducted several workshops to educate people on the safety of emissions from cell towers from time to time.
It would also help TSPs approach locals for setting up their telecom tower infrastructure in residential colonies and government buildings, which the government had cleared a year ago.