Construction conundrum: Pune residents troubled by noise pollution can voice their concerns to civic body and police

The urban local body is responsible for designating silent zones in accordance with the noise rules and displaying this information at the relevant locations.

Construction site dust and noise pollution raise concerns in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

With urbanisation comes increasing pollution in urban areas. According to the law, various government agencies are responsible for enforcing regulations to control noise pollution. Regarding noise pollution caused by construction activities, residents in Pune can file a complaint with the administrative head of the urban local body.

According to the Environment Protection Act, the administrative head of the urban local body is responsible for enforcing regulations to maintain noise standards at the source for construction projects, building utilities, domestic appliances, and other activities within their jurisdiction.

The urban local body is responsible for designating silent zones in accordance with the noise rules and displaying this information at the relevant locations. These silent zones are primarily areas within 100 meters of hospitals, educational institutions, and courts. Additionally, the local body must implement adequate noise abatement measures, such as installing noise barriers for bridges and flyovers and planting trees alongside developed roads.

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Citizens should file a complaint with the administrative head of the civic body. This will allow the administration to verify the situation before taking any action, such as issuing warnings or stop-work orders for construction projects. Such measures should be implemented until noise barriers are installed at the construction site, and those responsible for creating noise pollution should be penalised.

A senior police officer said, “A citizen can approach the police station regarding the noise pollution from a construction site. As part of the laid down procedure for any public nuisance, the police officials visit the location and issue a verbal warning to the concerned person and ask them to follow the rules. If the issue persists, the police station can issue a notice under the Bombay Police Act, and the violation of the law can amount to an offence. The police station can further refer the matter to the authorities that have granted building permission, which are the local government bodies.”

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The officer added, “Citizens can contact the Pune police control room to complain about the noise pollution from the construction site. Necessary action including and not limited to registering an offence under the Noise Pollution laws can be initiated.”

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

Sushant Kulkarni

Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More

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