Cellphone tower evils exaggerated, says COAI

With a spate of adverse reports in the media about radiations from cellular base stations in Delhi, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), a body of GSM-based mobile operators, sought to counter allegation, saying there are no health hazards pertaining to telecom towers and that such concerns ''have no basis in fact or finding''.

''The findings are wrongly aimed at creating a scare and panic amongst the public,'' said COAI director general R S Mathews.

The industry body called for a ''holistic review of scientific evidence, and not on the basis of non standard tests or benchmarks or because of any vested or commercial interest, which could paint an alarming, misleading and inaccurate picture of the situation''.

Mathews drew attention to past studies regarding the same which have been conducted by known bodies such as Indian Council of Medical Research and Interphone to support his views.

Recently news channels carried reports of some findings by a company called Cogent EMR Solutions which claimed to have identified many areas in the cities with high radiations.

COAI said the organisation as well as the industry has always welcomed healthy discussions based on scientific evidence in the matter.

''We would like to assure you that the industry continues to monitor the scientific press carefully in the area of mobile phones, base station and health related issues. In case you have any scientific data which is contrary to the above findings, please do not hesitate to share the same with us,'' said COAI in a statement.