Department of Telecom launches portal for info on mobile tower radiation

The Telecom Department today launched a portal that will allow people to track radiation emitted from mobile towers within a locality and check their compliance with the stipulated norms.

Launching the 'Tarang Sanchar' web portal, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha hoped the site will help in clearing "myths and misconceptions" about mobile towers and emissions from them.

He said the portal will empower consumers to know, at the click of the mouse, about the towers working in a particular area and whether they are compliant to the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms defined by the government.

The timing of the launch coincides with the recent SC order on deactivation of a mobile tower in Gwalior on the plea of a 42-year-old cancer patient.

The order had intensified the debate on the impact of radiation from mobile phone towers on health. However, the government has maintained that the mobile tower emissions rules in India are ten times more stringent than the global norms.