|
0 Comments
Home (/) » News (/news) » India (/india) » Mumbai (/mumbai) Anti-noise activists urge BMC to map silence zones Friday, 9 October 2015 - 7:55am IST | Agency: dna | From the print edition Chaitanya Marpakwar (/authors/chaitanya-marpakwar) The notification was issued by the BMC's environment department last week, following a rap from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). A day after dna reported that for the first time the civic body had notified 'silence zones', identifying over 1,500 locations across the city, activists have urged the BMC to map these zones. The notification was issued by the BMC's environment department last week, following a rap from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). "It's good that the BMC has notified the silence zones (/topic/silence-zones) but they need to be mapped. Entire zones must be plotted on a map, which should be made available to the public. Only then will people know whether they stay in a silence zone or no. They can then complaint to the police," said RTI activist Mohammed Ishtiaque Bagban. The NGT order was the result of a three-year-long battle by Bagban. Since 2011, Bagban, who lives near Crawford Market, used to call the police control room whenever noise norms were violated. However, the police did not respond. With no response from authorities, he moved the NGT. Anti-noise pollution activist Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation (/topic/awaaz-foundation) said the silence zones should be part of the city's Development Plan (DP). "Till the time one knows the exact boundary, complaints to the police about noise violations had little effect. The BMC must publicise the notification. People are not aware whether their buildings are marked as part of a silence zone or not. The boundaries should be included in the DP too," she added. According to the notification, 1,537 locations have been marked as silence zones, which include roads around schools, colleges, hospitals, religious sites and courts. The eastern suburbs have the highest number of silence zones (540), western suburbs have 524 and the island city has 453. The L ward, which includes Kurla, has the highest number of silence zones — 268. The C ward, which includes Pydhonie, has the least — 12. According to officials, if an area is declared as a silence zone, there is a ban on loudspeakers, horns, musical instruments and the bursting of firecrackers there. There is a cap on the decibel level of noise in the silence zone. Further, noise mitigation measures have to be adopted for construction activities in such areas. Chaitanya Marpakwar Partner site: Zee News (http://zeenews.india.com) About DNA (/about) Contact us (/contact) Advertise (/services/advertise) Reprint Rights (http://www.dnasyndication.com) ©2015 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. dna
Home (/) » News (/news) » India (/india) Half of Mumbai to be much quieter as BMC notifies 1,537 silence zones Thursday, 8 October 2015 - 6:40am IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: dna | From the print edition Chaitanya Marpakwar (/authors/chaitanya-marpakwar) Follow @chaitanya_pm (/authors/chaitanya-Follow 21 Half of Mumbai to be much quieter as BMC notifies 1,537 silence zones Loudspeakers, horns, musical instruments and bursting of fire-crackers to be a strict 'no' If the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has its way, almost half the city will soon be a much quieter place to live in. For the first time, the civic body has notified 'silence zones', identifying over 1,500 locations across the city. The notification was issued by the BMC's environment department last week, following a rap from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). According to the notification, a copy of which is with dna, 1,537 locations have been marked as silence zones, which include roads around schools, colleges, hospitals, religious sites and courts. The eastern suburbs have the highest number of silence zones (/topic/silence-zones) with 540 of them, the western suburbs have 524 and the island city 453 silence zones. "We had called for a report from the local wards. Based on the reports we have marked these silence zones. Now it is the responsibility of the police to enforce the regulations there," said a senior civic official. The L-ward, which includes areas like Kurla, has the highest number of silence zones with 268 of them. The C-ward, which includes areas like Pydhonie, has the least with just 12 silence zones. "100 metres around these structures will be treated as silence zones. We have covered a significant portion of the city. The landscape of the city keeps changing and new schools, colleges (/topic/colleges) and religious sites keep coming up. All these changes in the cityscape have been incorporated. The notification is very comprehensive," the official added. The NGT had come down heavily on the state Home department for failing to mark silence zones in July. The BMC had stated that no notification declaring any particular area as silence zone, in proximity of schools (/topic/schools) and hospitals (/topic/hospitals) was issued. According to officials, if an area is declared as silence-zone, there is a ban on loudspeakers, horns, musical instruments and the bursting of fire-crackers in the area. There is a cap on the decibel level of noise in the silence zone too. Further, noise mitigation measures would have to be adopted for construction activities in such areas. The NGT order was the result of a three-year-long battle by RTI activist Mohammed Ishtiaque Bagban. Since 2011, Bagban who lives near Crawford Market, used to call the police control room whenever noise norms were violated. However, the police did not respond. With no response from the authorities, he moved the NGT. "This is a welcome move. Till the time one knows the exact boundary, complaints to the police about noise violations had little effect. The BMC must publicise the notification. People are not aware whether their buildings are marked as silence zone or not. The boundaries should be included in the Development Plan (DP) too," said anti-noise pollution activist Sumaira Abdulali, of Awaaz Foundation. Total no of silence zones: 1,537 Eastern suburbs: 540 Western suburbs: 524 Island city: 453 Chaitanya Marpakwar Partner site: Zee News (http://zeenews.india.com) About DNA (/about) Contact us (/contact) Advertise (/services/advertise) Reprint Rights (http://www.dnasyndication.com) ©2015 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/At-123-7dB-Opera-House-records-noisiest-Ganpati-immersions-this-year/articleshow/49144772.cms
Indiatimes|The Times of India|The Economic Times| You are here: News Home » City » Mumbai » At 123.7dB, Opera House records noisiest Ganpati immersions this yearTNN | Sep 29, 2015, 01.10 AM IST READ MORE Sumaira Abdulali|Pollution Control Board|Opera House|Noise Levels|Juhu Chowpatty MUMBAI: Noise levels during Ganpati immersion processions reached a record high of 123.7dB this year. Awaaz Foundation recorded the ear-shattering decibel level at Opera House at 11.05pm on Sunday. The highest noise level previously recorded was 123.3dB in 2013, according to the NGO. While Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officials agreed that immersion processions were louder this year compared to 2014, they said that Juhu Chowpatty recorded the highest noise level at 112.6dB on Sunday. "Ganpati processions blocked several roads causing severe traffic jams at many locations, including S V Road, Dadar, Bandra and Khar. DJs accompanying the processions were found to breach the sound limit at every location monitored by our volunteers," said Sumaira Abdulali, noise pollution activist from Awaaz Foundation. Blatant use of loudspeakers, DJ music, drums and firecrackers kept the noise levels as high as 116dB at Opera House even at midnight. "The use of firecrackers was also higher than the previous years, adding to the noise and air pollution. Loudspeakers, drums and other instruments stopped playing at midnight at Girgaum Chowpatty—the first time that the deadline was followed—but, a little further ahead Girgaumcha Raja's procession continued to beat the drums and use loudspeakers until about 12.45am," said Abdulali. However, most mandals did not violate the noise norms this year. "Loudspeakers were kept in check at pandals due to the high court orders. These were also set up in such a manner that they blocked less portion of the road and not obstruct traffic movement," she said. Citizens agreed that this Ganeshotsav was a noisy one. "DJs playing loud music in trucks were lined up on roads, holding up traffic," said a resident of Gokhale Road in Dadar. Puja Khanna from Versova complained, "We expected the music to stop at 10.30-11pm, but many processions continued to blare music till 1.30am. They even blocked roads and affected traffic." Copyright © 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service |
Noise PollutionAwaaz Foundation's anti- noise pollution campaign has been covered extensively in the Press and media since 2003. Archives
September 2022
Categories
|
- Welcome
- Noise Pollution
- Sand Mining
-
Other Projects
- Climate Change >
- Air Pollution >
- Firecrackers >
- Stone quarrying or recycling debris >
- Alibag Solid Waste Management >
- Climate Change News
- Sawantwadi-Dodamarg Wildlife Corridor >
- MITRA (Movement against Intimidation, Threat and Violence against Activists) >
- Eco friendly Festivals >
- Light Pollution >
- Oil Spills >
- Coastal Road and Development Plan >
- Urban Trees >
- Anti Smoking >
- Miscellaneous News
-
#AWAAZFORACTION
- About
RSS Feed
