Ramdaspeth residents' complaint against noise pollution falls on deaf ears

The Times of India , Monday, October 19, 2015
Correspondent : Manka Behl
NAGPUR: Not the chirping of birds but it is the cacophony of hammering, drilling, stonecutting, loading and unloading and grinders to which residents of Ramdaspeth wake up. With a spurt in construction activities in the posh locality, it has become a routine for them for last four years, making them vulnerable to mental and physical agony caused due to noise pollution.

Be it at 12 in the midnight or the early hours of morning, construction activities go on in full swing despite strong objection from the residents. "Most of the times, the labourers start work even before sunrise. We hardly recall what it is like to have a sound sleep," say the beleaguered residents surrounded by rampant construction activities from all sides.

Pooja Panchmatiya, an eight floor resident of an apartment near Dagdi Park, is worried. "My son suffers from asthma and migraine. He is not comfortable with fan or air-conditioner and wants windows open to breathe fresh air. But I cannot due to noise and air pollution due to the construction activities. Even if I open them for a while, dust settles down all over. There is no way out to get rid of the hubbub that comes from the nearby sites," she complains.

Bharti Vithalani, who has a seven-month-old baby and resides on the sixth floor, says, "In early morning hours, sound travels very fast and even a little hammering is enough to disturb our sleep. The worst time is when the building slabs are laid. My baby wakes up crying every morning due to disturbance of construction activities," she says. She adds that lack of proper sleep has started taking a toll on the health of residents.

Noise pollution due to construction activity has become common in many residential areas. Construction of a private hospital at Bharat Nagar on Amravati Road is giving sleepless nights to many as no steps have been taken to adhere to environmental laws. "We have repeatedly complained about the breach of air and noise pollution rules at the site but in vain. My wife is asthmatic and every day she goes to a relative's place to avoid pollution," says Ashish Nagory, a resident.

In an area like Dhantoli where hospitals are mushrooming, there is no respite from noisy construction activities that take place throughout the day. "What is sad that even doctors, who are coming up with clinics and hospitals, shy away from checking pollution. Instead of erecting barriers and taking steps to reduce intensity of noise and air pollution, they encourage the contractors to get the work done fast and at a minimum cost," says a paediatrician working in a Dhantoli-based hospital.

Though the city police encourage citizens to lodge oral complaint regarding breach of noise pollution rules by calling the control room, the response is impertinent enough to stop them from calling again. "Recently, when the labourers at a construction site did not stop their work by 12am, I called up the Sitabuldi police to complain about the disturbance. But the police official asked me to first come to the police station at midnight to lodge a complaint," says a homemaker. The response from the control room was even worse. A lady operator answered the call and after hearing the complaint, she rudely asked, "What do you think about the police? Why should we be concerned about what somebody is doing in their private place?"

Social activist Shyamala Sanyal, who is fighting against noise pollution since years, blames lack of political and bureaucratic will for inaction against such construction activities. "Most of the builders are powerful, have strong connections and it becomes impossible for citizens to fight alone. Though pollution resistant tools like mufflers for grilling machines are available, builders avoid their use to save money. Bureaucracy simply doesn't want to implement orders and guidelines. The quality of life is already going downhill and soon a time will come when people will start dying of pollution," she says.

At a time when decibel meters are easily accessible on smartphones as applications, it is surprising that local authorities are not equipped to measure noise standards. "It has been ages since the police is giving excuses that the meters have gone for repair. I have a personal decibel meter downloaded from the internet. How hard can it be to measure noise?" says Sanyal.

Panchmatiya says on rare occasions when police visited the construction sites following residents' complaint, they were not carrying any meters to measure noise. "As there was no concrete action, the labourers were back to breaking the norms in no time," she says.

ENT surgeon Dr Naresh Agrawal says that loud noises emitted from constructions sites lead to many severe health ailments. "Already, the noise level in city is soaring due to increase in traffic. While constant exposure to 70 decibels noise is quite harmful, sounds due to activities like drilling are usually more than 150 decibels and can cause many diseases like tinnitus, gastrointestinal problems, lack of concentration and sleep disorders. Long-term exposure to such sounds can also cause temporary or permanent deafening. It may also result in psychological problems like exaggerated anger," he adds.

Builder and secretary of Vidarbha Taxpayers Association Tejinder Singh Renu says that builders should adjust according to the needs of surrounding areas. "If nearby residents are facing inconvenience, they have a legitimate right to protest against noise pollution and it is important for builders to step into the shoes of those having grievances. Construction is a stepwise procedure and it will involve noise but there can surely be a middle way. Sounds generated while drilling and cutting tiles have bad frequency and travel long distances. Workers can avoid doing this work during early morning hours," he says.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Ramdaspeth-residents-complaint-against-noise-pollution-falls-on-deaf-ears/articleshow/49444962.cms
 


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