Chembur demands, gets silence zone

Fed up with din from college ground 100m away, citizens use HC ruling to go noise-free

Chembur demands, gets silence zone

Fed up with din from college ground 100m away, citizens use HC ruling to go noise-free

In the first-ever citizens' initiative on silence zones since the high court ruling on February 26, residents of Pestom Sagar in Chembur have got their area demarcated as noise free.

This means, playing loud music (up to 110 decibels; your neighbour should not be able to hear it) is banned, as are functions with amplifiers or live music,u00a0 musical and reverse horns and bursting noisy firecrackers, among others.

Flouting the silence zone law attracts a penalty of upto Rs 1 lakh or five years of imprisonment or both.

'Be proactive and get your area notified'

Sheetal Sangole, a resident of Pestom Sagar, who spearheaded the move for the area, under the Pestom Sagar Citizens Forum said, "The Somaiya college premises is around 100 m from the Pestom Sagar area and the grounds are used for functions on a regular basis. The noise is unbearable and it disturbs senior citizens and students. Once we heard of the HC order, (see box) we realised the area fell under a silence zone and wrote a letter to the Municipal Commissioner and marked a copy to the ward office. Within two days, the ward office told us that the area had been notified as a silence zone and now boards have been placed around the area."

However, Zafar Iqbal, chief Advisor to the Somaiya Trust said he had no idea of the silence zone rule in the area. "We are law abiding citizens and will follow the law," he said.

Sumaira Abdulali, convenor of Awaaz Foundation said, "According to the rule if you are 100 metres within a religious place, an educational institute (includes a nursery) or a hospital (includes nursing homes and clinics) you can get the area notified as a silent zone. Be proactive and make sure your area is notified."

Adds Yeshwant Oke, the founder secretary of Anti Noise Pollution Committee and the man behind the 10 pm deadline ruled by the Supreme Court agrees that that the BMC, may not be able to notify all the silence zones, though 40 per cent of the city has been done, and hence people should chip in. He said, "There are many institutions that are now using loudspeakers and harassing residents. By writing to the BMC, these residents can get their areas notified," said Oke.

Sound this out (in decibels)
130 Jet aircraft (at 100 metres)
110 Fire crackers
120 Rock and roll concert
90 Train whistle
90 Chainsaw
80 Heavy truck traffic
60 conversation
20 Whisper
55 Permissible in a residential zone
85 permissible in a commercial zone.

Court order
The Bombay High Court on February 26, directed the BMC, the police commissioner, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the state government to demarcate silence zones in the city. As per an earlier HC order, an area of 100 metres around hospitals, educational institutions, courts and religious institutions can be demarcated as silence zones.

Log on to https://www.karmayog.org/redirect/strred.asp?docId=10443 on why noise can kill you slowly

What you can do
If you want your area to be notified as a silence zone ...
>>Write a letter to the municipal commissioner
>>In the letter, explain how your area falls under a silence zone
>>Send a copy to the ward officer
>>The environment officer from the ward will verify and notify the area
>>For more clarity, approach the Awaaz Foundation