Nagpur: Taking note of TOI's report on nuisance of noise pollution in the city due to activities at construction sites, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has asked its registry to file a suo motu PIL regarding the same.

A division bench comprising Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Prasanna Varale has appointed lawyer SN Bhattad as amicus curiae and directed him to draft a petition in this regard. "Based on the news report published in The Times of India, the court directed me to file a PIL, taking into considerations all the rules and regulations and environmental laws about noise pollution caused due to construction activities. The court has given directives to file PIL within three months and the next hearing is scheduled for November 19," said Bhattad.

Bhattad added that state Urban Development Department secretary, district collector, commissioner of police, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) commissioner, Nagpur Improvement Trust and (NIT) chairman will be the respondents.

On October 19, TOI had reported how noise pollution due to construction activity has become common in many residential areas and how residents are facing mental and physical agony due to it. "We are happy that the court has taken cognisance of our grievances through the right channel. It was a much-needed step seeing the construction spurt in the city. This is a public matter and concerns all citizens, not just residents of a particular locality," said Pooja Panchmatiya, a resident of Ramdaspeth.

TOI had also pointed out how despite the statutory bodies having standing guidelines regarding protection of environment from construction activities, the same are not being implemented at most of the sites in the city. Builders hardly take any steps to keep the noise and air pollution under check in accordance with the environmental laws.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) issued the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, stating that the noise levels in different areas should not exceed the ambient air quality standards in respect to noise. Based on the MoEF's rules, the city police also issued a public notice stating that citizens are entitled to lodge oral complaint regarding breach of noise pollution rules on '100'.

In April, even the National Green Tribunal (NGT) principal bench at Delhi had ruled that every corporation or authority vested with the power of sanctioning plans for construction of small plots should ensure that the builder strictly complies with the MoEF guidelines of 2010. The bench headed by Justice Swantanter Kumar ordered that notices will be issued to builders to put tarpaulin on scaffolding around area of construction and to control dust emissions from construction sites. Besides this, builders should also put up green barriers and wind breaking walls around their sites.