Staff crunch to be sorted out: Govt

The government on Tuesday admitted that the city’s Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell, which is expected to help the department of telecommunications keep a check on radiation levels from mobile phone towers, is short-staffed.

The government on Tuesday admitted that the city’s Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell, which is expected to help the department of telecommunications keep a check on radiation levels from mobile phone towers, is short-staffed.

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The cell is supposed to conduct sample surveys of 10% of the mobile phone towers in its jurisdiction, which adds up to 27,642 towers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The MMR includes Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayander and Kalyan-Dombivli. Of the approximately 2,700 towers it should have tested, the Mumbai cell has managed to test only 660 towers since it became operational in November 2010. The cell has only six engineers to do the job.

“We are in the process of augmenting human and technical resources of TERM cells to enforce and execute what is on paper. Unfortunately, it’s taking a little while. Once these resources are in place, the cell will function in full force,” Deora said.

The ministry understands the need to mobilise resources for strengthening the cells, he added.

Monisha Biswas, head of Mumbai’s TERM cell, said: “The 660 checks have been conducted in the past seven to eight months. We were supposed to do them earlier, but we didn’t have enough staff. Even the current staff is not adequate to complete the required number of sample checks as they also have other work to do.”

Authorities said radiation levels recorded in MMR are below the permissible limit of 4.5W/ sqm. So far, the highest recorded radiation level in Mumbai is 1.078 watt per sq meter in Goregaon (west). “We have not come across any case where the radiation level has exceeded the permissible limit,” said Biswas.

As reported in HT’s July 15 edition, it’s common for people living close to mobile towers to experience headaches, joint pains, disturbed vision, etc; cancer happens in extreme cases.