Supreme Court asks govt about radiation emitted by telecom towers

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed claims by telecom companies that radiation levels from cellular towers were within permissible limits and asked the Central government to explain if there was any way to independently monitor these emissions.

"You are very powerful companies. You can make anything permissible. But this is a question of life and death," a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and Justices C Nagappan and AM Khanwilkar observed about the telecom companies when its attention was drawn to claims made in a host of petitions about alleged unsafe levels of radiation emitted by mobile phone towers.

Instead, the bench demanded to know from the Central government if there was any truth in the allegations and if there was any independent study on these aspects. "We are told birds are disappearing, bees are disappearing, swallows are disappearing, butterflies are disappearing," the CJI observed.

"What are the international standards? Is there any government agency checking these radiation levels?" the CJI demanded to know of Additional Solicitor General PS Patwalia. The ASG said that there were cells in the Department of Telecommunications that conduct yearly inspections and sudden checks to monitor radiation emissions and sought 10 more days to get back to the court with answers.

Gopal Jain, the sole representative of the telcos, said there were norms to ensure that radiation levels are within safe limits and there was also a vigorous enforcement mechanism.

The bench refused to accept the industry's stand at face value, insisting that the government come back with the answers. Among other things, the court asked the government to explain whether it had investigated claims that such towers represented a serious health hazard. The CJI wanted to know how the government had fixed the 20 metre norm for towers and why this information had not been placed in the public domain.

"How can the citizen know about where they are located? How many are located? Check for emissions?" it asked. The CJI also sought to know the international standards on this score and if the government had ever acted against anybody in a case in which a violation of the norm was reported. Patwalia said the government was in the process of creating an online database on such towers in the country.