Deccan
Chronicle: Hyderabad: Monday, 23 February 2015.
The Chief Information
Commissioner has taken a serious note of the ministry of environment and
forests providing “false and misleading” information to an RTI query on the
harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation emitted by cellphone towers on
human beings.
The ministry
had said that no study had been undertaken by it to assess the effects of radio
frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) on humans. However, the CIC, Prof. M.
Sridhar Acharyulu, was informed that an inter-ministerial group in 2010 had
reported of the adverse effects EMF can have on humans and had also suggested
that cellphone towers not be installed near schools, residential colonies and
hospitals.
The
inter-ministerial group (IMG) was constituted by the ministry of IT and the
department of telecommunication. The CIC rebuked MoEF saying, “The commission
is surprised that MoEF knew that the report was submitted by the IMG.”
The MoEF was
served a show cause notice on why the maximum penalty should not be imposed on
it for providing false information. The
CIC also sought information from the ministry within 21 days on whether EMF had
been declared dangerous.
The possible
health side-effects of EMF mentioned by the IMG report are disturbance of
biological processes in the human body,
The report also suggested revision of radiation norms in India. A report
by the WHO which considered radio frequency EMF as a possible carcinogen, was
also cited.
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