Go to BMC website, get info on mobile tower radiation soon

Citizens will soon be able to log on to the civic body’s website for information on issues related to mobile tower radiation. Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) goes about revising its policy on mobile phone tower installation to reduce the ill-effects of radiation, it has decided to also introduce a separate tab on mobile tower radiation on its website, www.mcgm.gov.in.

Citizens will soon be able to log on to the civic body’s website for information on issues related to mobile tower radiation. Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) goes about revising its policy on mobile phone tower installation to reduce the ill-effects of radiation, it has decided to also introduce a separate tab on mobile tower radiation on its website, www.mcgm.gov.in.

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This proposed online initiative will connect Mumbaiites to the website of the Union department of telecommunication (DoT) and the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell unit in the city, which will address people’s queries pertaining to radiation emissions.

“Many people log on to our website assuming that we are responsible for attending to radiation-related issues,” said an official from the BMC’s building proposals department. “So we will guide them to the right place. The new tab will directly connect them to the newly launched complaint handling system.”

While issues pertaining to telecom infrastructure and permissions for installations come under the BMC’s purview, the issues related to radiation are handled by the DoT. The BMC will also put up details of its revised policy on granting licences for installation of mobile towers on its website to help operators.
Last week, as the DoT’s complaint handling system in the city completed a month, the BMC started implementing DoT’s guidelines and making it tougher for the installation of towers.

The increased concern on mobile tower radiation and its effects recently prompted the BMC to review the existing norms applicable for mobile phone operators, as reported in HT’s November 9 and 10 editions.

On the basis of DoT’s guidelines, the BMC has decided that not more than two towers can be installed on a building in a residential area and that at least 36 metres has to be maintained between the antenna and a flat.