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India, Mumbai, State deaf to high decibels
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07/nov/2006 |
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State deaf to high decibels
Smita Deshmukh
Tuesday, November 07, 2006 00:41 IST
Noise and air pollution levels soared way over permissible limits during the recently-concluded festival season. Yet, the state government has taken no decisive step to ensure that the rules are not violated again.
While the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has sent its latest report on noise levels during Ganesh and Diwali festivals to the Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur, the state environment department insists the only way the violations can be controlled is by effective police action.
Amid the slow response from government agencies on the issue, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by city activist GR Vora is now looked upon by noise activists as the only recourse for firm action.
The MPCB report clearly points at higher noise levels during the monitoring period and pinpointed fire cracker and traffic as the main culprits, causing high levels of air pollution, particularly in terms of Nitrogen Oxides and fine dust.
Despite high levels of smoke and noise, there is still no roadmap to control the same.
“It is a tough task and only a big campaign — like National Noise Quality Control Programme — can bring in some change,” insists DB Boralkar, member secretary, MPCB.
Sensing more traffic on the new city roads, the MPCB has already directed the home department to install noise barriers on highways and new link roads. Also, the growing noise generated by community events, fast-moving consumer products like TV, air-conditioners and generators along with growing number of heavy vehicles is causing havoc in big cities. “We still don’t have a system to daily monitor noise levels at main junctions like we do in case of air quality,” added Boralkar.
As they prepare to file an affidavit in the PIL, state environment department officials have blamed cops for the massive noise violations during the festival season. “If the home department takes a strict view of the situation, we can achieve success,” said an official.
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