Noise over barrier: What’s so great about Peddar Road?

Citizens question the proposed Rs24 crore noise barrier on a one-way flyover. Also, they want to know why other flyovers don’t qualify?

Farmers in Maharashtra are committing suicide under the burden of debt. The state government itself is in a debt trap of Rs1.1 lakh crore and is unable to provide them financial assistance. The state has no money to provide decent accommodation to policemen and fire brigade personnel working round-the-clock to ensure our safety. The financial situation of the state is so bad that it could not pay the basic salaries of Junior College lecturers for several months. But we can surely afford noise barriers worth Rs24 crore from China so that Peddar Road residents don’t have to endure passing vehicles.

With no traffic jams, noise pollution at Peddar Road will be reduced considerably once the flyover is in place. The one-way flyover will ensure smoother traffic flow resulting in lesser noise. Why then, do we need the noise barrier?

Would the government be kind enough to let people in on the reason why noise barriers were not constructed on the JJ and Sion flyovers? These flyovers carry two-way traffic and are close to residential areas. Is the Peddar Road Residents Association going to reimburse the Rs24 crore spent from taxpayers' pockets?

If not, the government must reconsider its decision. — Chetan Bordawekar

Are JJ and Sion residents unimportant?

The decision of the Maharashtra government to spend Rs24 crore, just to provide noise prevention barrier along the proposed Peddar Road flyover, is atrocious. What is so special about Peddar Road residents that the government is forced to pamper them with such a costly device? Are the residents staying along the JJ Hospital, Sion and other flyovers not citizens of this city? On what basis has the government decided that these residents are unimportant? Are they not facing the hassles of daily traffic, noise and air pollution — especially when these flyovers literally touch their balconies? How come there are different sets of rules for the 'privileged' and the underprivileged in a democratic set-up?

If the state government has so much money to spare, why not use it to provide basic amenities which several suburbs of Mumbai still lack. They can use the money to help poor farmers. It's high time a PIL is filed against the government for squandering public money to placate the elite. — Krishna Kumar. Dombivali

We too need a Lata

When I first heard that the government is planning to import sound barriers for the Peddar Road flyover, I thought, 'how unfair.' Trucks and buses ply all day and night and create a lot of noise. How come we don't have any sound barriers? Is it because we have no Lata Mangeshkar in our locality? When cars speed by in the monsoon, the water splashes into our homes.

The drains on the flyover empty rainwater into our balconies. Peddar Road residents got the opportunity to protest, but we weren't even asked before the flyover was built. The feeling that a million strangers can clearly see through your house isn't very pleasant. My windows are shut all day in the futile attempt to protect my privacy. Why does the longest flyover in Mumbai get step-motherly treatment? My children want to move out, but our roots are here so we can't think of living elsewhere. —MS Zaveri

Area badly needs a silencer

I am half deaf from this noise. Decibel levels here are way above the permissible limit. In foreign countries, honking is a bad word. They should definitely install a silencer. This area has a legitimate claim for being declared a silence zone because of the hospitals and religious places around. —Suhail Akhtar Saifi