On June 9, dna had carried a report about the BMC's circular that cited 'ease of doing business' for developers as the reason for construction work hours to be allowed between 6am and 10pm, when it was earlier restricted from 7am to 7pm.
Pointing out that some of the equipment used during construction work can produce noise levels of up to 100dB, Awaaz Foundation, an NGO that works towards reducing noise pollution, has demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation withdraw its notification that increases the permissible time frame for construction work in one day by four hours.
On June 9, dna had carried a report about the BMC's circular that cited 'ease of doing business' for developers as the reason for construction work hours to be allowed between 6am and 10pm, when it was earlier restricted from 7am to 7pm.
Sumaira Abdulali, the convenor of Awaaz Foundation, shared that this move was not in the interest of Mumbaikars and would only create more problems for citizens who are already affected heavily by noise pollution, given that Mumbai has been declared as the noisiest city in India. "Apart from sending a letter to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, we have also started an online petition asking people to sigh it in protest against this civic move," she said
"The noise levels generated by construction equipment such as pneumatic drills went up to 100dB, while cement mixers generated 85dB of sound. Similarly, marble or stone cutting machines produced 85dB, but since it was a very high-frequency noise, it had added damage. The noise from general construction, such as loading and unloading work, was around 80-90dB," Abdulali said, adding that these findings were part of a survey carried out at construction sites across the city, indicating the high noise levels.
Abdulali also pointed out that the BMC itself was clueless about noise pollution generated at construction sites. "They have never carried out any noise-mapping exercises at construction sites and nor do they have any mechanism to understand the machines that are being used or what kind of noise is produced. All the civic body does is comes up with a notification without taking the ground realities of its implementation into consideration," she said, adding that citizens and advanced locality management and resident bodies across Mumbai should join hands against this move, which will create chaos in every neighbourhood.
In fact, Awaaz Foundation had even written to former municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte in 2014, requesting the BMC to take steps to reduce construction-created noise pollution, and again in April 2015 asking for noise pollution concerns to be integrated in the new draft Development Plan for the city.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "construction")
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}