Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal has declined to relax the laws governing electromagnetic radiation emanating from telecom towers.
Sibal has asked the telecom companies to comply with the norms by July 15 and wanted the Department of Telecom to double the penalty amount on operators found to be violating the norms.
Under the new norms for mobile towers, the Electromagnetic Frequency exposure limit from Base Station Emission is lowered to one-tenth of the earlier permissible levels. The penalty amount at present is at Rs 5 lakh per base transceiver station per service provider.
“Telecom industry should come out with complete electromagnetic radiation data base by July 15 detailing the compliance issues on radiation level, all technical information along with photograph of base station and nearby installations clearly show casing the various antennas fitted on the tower,” according to an internal DoT note.
The telecom industry had earlier met the Telecom Minister seeking relaxation in the implementation of the new law. The industry emphasises the practical constraints and the magnitude of the paper work involved for furnishing self-certification for upgradation of base station sites.
The DoT had already started cracking down on operators for not following the new norms. For example, notices were issued to seven operators in Mumbai for shutting down 11 tower sites after they were found to be emitting radiation beyond permissible levels. The new norms came into effect from September 1 and since then DoT has imposed penalties of Rs 351 crore.