'No scientific proof of health hazards'

Even as activists and residents continue their campaign against mobile tower radiation, cellular operators have claimed that removing mobile towers from buildings put expose you to more radiation as your handset will have to work harder to receive signals.

Even as activists and residents continue their campaign against mobile tower radiation, cellular operators have claimed that removing mobile towers from buildings put expose you to more radiation as your handset will have to work harder to receive signals.

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At a conference organised by the Indian Medical Association on Sunday, Ranjan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India, said: "When a cell phone tower is removed from your building, your handset will increase its power to receive signal, thereby emitting more radiation. Since you are closer to your handset than the cell towers, you will be exposed to even more radiation than before."

Mathews said that Indian laws were more stringent than international norms.

"There is no scientific study to prove that cell phone towers affect human health. Nonetheless, we are strictly complying with norms set by the government." He also claimed that emissions from mobile towers are lower than those from a microwave or a radio tuner.

HT has reported that there are 1,830 illegal towers in Mumbai, and how companies have violated civic norms by installing cellphone towers on school and hospital buildings.

Commenting on this, Mathews said: "We will remove towers if they are proved to be illegal. There is no norm against cluster of towers, so those are not illegal."