BTRC floats tender for tower radiation measuring tools
The telecom regular yesterday called an international tender to purchase radiation measurement equipment to assess public health risks posed by electromagnetic fields of mobile operators' base transceiver stations, widely known as towers.
The move to purchase two such tools along with two vehicles to transport those came after the High Court directed BTRC to take preventive measures if the towers are found to be emitting harmful radiation.
A top official of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said it would take over six months to complete the purchase procedures. The cost is estimated to be around Tk 3.4 crore.
The tools will allow the BTRC to know whether the radiation is posing any health risk to people or causing any adverse impact on the environment, the official said.
The findings will also allow the BTRC to take future regulatory measures, he added.
Currently, there are about 40,000 towers used by the top three mobile operators. Another few thousand are owned by Teletalk and some other operators.
The Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed a petition before the High Court in 2012 over the radiation level of towers. The court gave the order on it on March 28 this year.
The High Court later asked the authorities concerned to look into the radiation level, health risks and environmental impacts caused by the radiation.
Following the court order, an expert committee formed by the health ministry prepared a report after examining radiation levels from some towers in Dhaka city. The report found the radiation harmful to public health.
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