PM sets up panel on cellphone radiation

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants the department of science and technology to work out a new set of guidelines to minimise the adverse impact of radiations from cellphone towers on citizens.

Updated on: Jul 19, 2012, 24:20:16 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants the department of science and technology to work out a new set of guidelines to minimise the adverse impact of radiations from cellphone towers on citizens.

He has also instructed the department to constitute a panel of experts to ensure the guidelines follow the latest international norms.

The move comes after minister of state for science and technology, Ashwini Kumar, asked the PM to act on the telecom department's "indifference" to the danger of exposure to radiation from around half a million cellphone towers in India.

HT, in its July 15 edition, reported how radiation from cellphone towers was carcinogenic. According to experts, getting exposed to a cellphone tower within 50 metres is like being in a microwave oven for 24 hours.

The telecom department and cell phone operators claim there is not enough scientific proof to prove that "exposure to radiation" from cell phone towers can adversely impact human health.

"There is no scientific study to prove that anyone has got any health problem due to telecom towers in India," said R Chandrasekhar, secretary, department of telecommunications (DoT).

Last month, the PM asked department of science and technology chief T Ramasami to ensure the new norms are strictly enforced.

Kumar told to HT that the PM has instructed the department to act fast.

An expert committee constituted by the PM admitted that telecom department's guidelines on cell phone towers allowed higher emission of radiation than the World Health Organisation (WHO) norms.

"The PM wants the new scientifically proven norms to be enforced in letter and spirit across India," a committee member said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.