Following the complaints from telecom operators about the illegal sealing of mobile towers by Municipal bodies of Delhi, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approached Delhi government and municipal authorities to allow towers, especially on government buildings, reports digit.in.
According to the report, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg met Delhi Chief Secretary and conveyed that cellphone towers do not cause radiation. Recently, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had conducted study in Himachal Pradesh on the effect of radiation and had concluded that the towers do not cause radiation.
Telecos recently sent a joint letter to DoT, pointing the illegal sealing of towers. "It must be noted that with every 40 sites being sealed, there is an average of 20 per cent increase in call drops. In the last two days itself, the MCD has gone ahead and sealed 16 sites across Delhi. In the last month, 70 sites have been sealed,” the letter said.
Telecom operators often blame the call drop issue on sealing of towers. They also blamed the resident associations for insisting the removal of towers due to their fear of radiation. Call drop has increased about two-third across the country in a year, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the issue. With PM’s intervention, DoT and TRAI proceed to take tangible steps to solve the issue.
