Members of various lobbies responded with loud clapping to officials expounding factors negating possibility of EMF radiation from mobile towers affecting human health. At the same time, municipal councillors and representatives of residents welfare associations appeared unconvinced questioning the authorities and blaming officials concerned for self-contradictory statements which had sustained uncertainty in the public.
The MDDA vice chairman R Meenakshi Sundaram referred to points raised by different sides on this issue while also adding that the prime minister had also spoken of the issue of call dropping which needs to be resolved considering the importance of mobile telecommunication on which often lives depend. Appealing RWAs to consider the life and death aspect of the towers, he also told the service providers to ensure that they follow the regulation and secure all necessary documentation. Councillor Bhupendra Kathait questioned as to why had the authorities not yet informed the public clearly on impact of radiation from mobile towers.
Recalling a case in which he had approached Sundaram, he averred that the same officials at times call the towers harmless while contradicting their own statements by citing harmful effects of towers in other cases. Councillor Amita Singh questioned as to why work on such towers was done in an apparently stealthy manner during the night if they are harmless and legal. The officials cited varied reasons to allay their doubts while reiterating on harmlessness of mobile phone tower radiation.