DoT launches Tarang Sanchar web portal for information on Mobile Tower Radiation

The Department of Telecom (DoT) on 2 May 2017 launched 'Tarang Sanchar’ web portal, a portal that will allow people to track radiation emitted from mobile towers within a locality and check their compliance with the stipulated norms.

The portal will help in clearing myths and misconceptions about mobile towers and emissions from them.

Highlights of the Tarang Sanchar web portal
• Through this portal, status of the towers will be available to the users.
• Generally, government conducts test on random basis, but through this portal, test of specific tower could be done on payment.
• Those who want to get the radiation level checked of specific towers, will be required to pay a fee of Rs 5000 for the test to be conducted by the government.
• It 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.

Comment
The launch of Tarang Sanchar web portal coincides with the recent order of Supreme Court on deactivation of a mobile tower in Gwalior on the plea of a 42-year-old cancer patient. The order intensified the debate on the impact of radiation from mobile phone towers on health.

However, as per DoT, Indian standards are 10-times stricter than international standards prescribed by the International Commission on non-ionizing radiation protection (ICNIRP) and recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).