Around 3 per cent cell sites currently installed in major cities of the country by mobile phone operators might be re-designed or improved under a policy unveiled to check their health hazards, a senior official of IT Ministry said here Sunday.
With heavy investment of operators in roll-out, expanding the existing network, the total number of cellular mobile and WLL base stations in the country stands at around 10,000 and is expected to reach more than 13000 to 15,000 mark during this year.
The official told APP that the Ministry has authorised Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), with a policy guideline for mitigating environmental and health hazards and to address public concerns about radiation effects of the infrastructure.
PTA will take all necessary actions and launch public awareness campaign so that policy guidelines are implemented in true spirit and concerns of the public are addressed in a satisfactory manner, he added.
The authority will give a timeline of six months for such improvements and at the same time concerns of local authorities and provincial governments will be addressed through harmonised guidelines for the entire country.
The official recalled that the Cabinet instructed the Ministry of IT to conduct a thorough study and take policy steps required to minimise the negative impacts of base station proliferation across the country and added a detailed research study has been conducted by the Ministry to take stock of the situation. He said radiation hazards from the base stations were thoroughly analysed in light of international research and recommendations of standards bodies (ANSI/IEEE and the International Council for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
The study report was also circulated to the ministries of health, Environment, PTA and the industry stakeholders for comments and recommendations, he said, adding that the study has concluded that although a bulk of medical research material is available on the health related effects of electromagnetic radiation yet no conclusive evidence of hazards to human health has been established for possible exposure levels viz-a-viz current arrangement of cellular towers.
"Only if a human being comes directly in front of an antenna radiating surface (not the tower), within more than eight meters (25 feet) can there be a possibility of exposure to radiation levels detrimental to human health," he said.
He said owing to the finding of some research studies indicating probability of some negative effects mainly on human beings, both the standards bodies have recommended precautionary approaches and have set conservative limits for exposure to radiation. The official said most of the countries around the world have adopted one of the standards and added in view of the study and extensive consultation, Ministry of IT has decided that Pakistan also needs to adopt a precautionary approach in light of non-conclusiveness of international research and put in place safeguards against any remote chances of health hazards due to cellular antennas.
Directive to PTA in this regard is, hence, being issued establishing the policy, he said. He said to ensure compliance to the guidelines about levels of exposure, PTA will conduct independent, random, ongoing audit of base stations. This will ensure that the public will be protected against any radiation exposure risks within guideline levels.
PTA will also ensure that the information on the audit surveys is posted on its website and is readily accessible, interpretable by members of the public and kept up-to-date.
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