COAI
welcomes the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s ruling on mobile towers
Judgement says
emission from mobile towers does not have any proven ill effects on human
health
Cellular Operator
Association of India (COAI) today welcomed the decision of the Honorable
Himachal Pradesh High Court debunking fears around mobile tower radiation, by
dismissing multiple petitions filed in the Court against the setting up of
mobile towers citing health hazards.
The
two-judge bench of Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Ali and Justice Tarlok Singh
Chauhan, which dismissed the petitions after referring to similar judgements
and research studies said there was no evidence to connect emissions from
mobile towers to human health. “It is evident from the aforesaid reports
that the exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) do not have any notable
impact on the health of human beings. Evidently, the studies conducted till
date by the two premier organizations i.e. WHO and SCENIHR go to indicate that
despite a large number of studies being carried out in the last two decades to
assess the potential health risk on account of emission of EMF, no major
adverse health effect has been noticed.” the 40-page ruling states.
COAI
has been talking about the myths created around mobile tower emissions and has
always stood by the safety standards adopted in India, which are ten times more
stringent than international norms observed even by developed countries like
the US and the UK.
Talking
about the ruling, Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, COAI, said, “We
welcome the judgment of the Hon’ble High Court. We believe that this landmark
order will debunk several myths propagated by certain groups. The Court’s
observations are an endorsement of all that COAI has been saying all along
regarding misconceptions around mobile tower emissions and should surely be
looked at as a guiding principle by all State Governments in allowing operators
to set up mobile towers to tackle the problem of call drops.”
Delivering
the judgment, the Himachal Pradesh High Court referred to previous rulings by
other High Courts, as well as findings by different committees that were
constituted to look into the issue of radiation.
“In
a writ petition filed in the Allahabad High Court, a direction was given to the
Government of India to constitute a committee of experts to submit a report so
that the Government may take necessary precautions while granting permission
for establishment of the mobile towers… After considering the report of the
Committee, the DoT has issued an Office Memorandum on 27.2.2014 stating that
the presently prescribed limits for the EMF radiation from the base stations in
India are one tenth of the internationally prescribed limits and that the same
were adequate and need no further change at that stage,” the Hon’ble Court
said, alluding to the Allahabad HC order of 2014.
In
another reference, the Court talked about a Kerala High Court order of 2007,
which said surveys conducted close to base stations found people exposed to
extremely low intensity RF fields that were unlikely to pose any risk to
health.
“We
have already found that RF exposures from Mobile Base Stations are much less
than from radio, FM radio and television transmissions and that the consensus
of scientific community is that the radiation from Mobile Phone Base Stations
is far too low to produce health hazards if people are kept away from direct
access to the antenna and the overall evidence indicates that they are unlikely
to pose a risk to health,” it quoted from the ruling.
The
judgment also mentions that radiation in itself is nothing new and has been
there since life began on earth three-and-a-half billion years ago. “Radiation
is all around us and we are all actually submerged in naturally occurring
ionizing radiation reaching us from the outer space, even from the radioactive
elements and materials around us. Sunshine in itself is a familiar form of
radiation,” the judgment said.
The association is also dedicated to the advancement
of modern communication and towards delivering the benefits of innovative and
affordable mobile communication services to the people of India.
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