Assessing how safe are the rural tin-shed houses in the vicinity of EM fields of the cross-country power lines

High voltage grid lines are mostly routed through rural areas. In the countries with high population densities it is difficult to keep the rural houses very far from the lines' routes. For low cost the dwelling houses of the rural people in Bangladesh and a number of Asian countries are usually roofed with thin, galvanized and corrugated steel sheets termed 'tin'. An analysis of the electromagnetic induction effects on a tin-shed house from a nearby power line has not yet been reported in the literature. This paper presents the way this practical issue has been investigated thoroughly. The induced circulating current densities and resulting power dissipation in the roofs of tin-shed houses neighbouring to a 132 kV and a 230 kV transmission line have been quantified as a function of the distance of the nearest edge of a tin sheet from the line, the tin sheet's slant angle with respect to the vertical plane and the height of the roof. The results of this investigation would help the electric utility planners in defending a renewed public concern about transmission lines' effects upon the health of rural mass.