Mumbai builders asked to install sound cutters by March 31 to curb noise pollution

Bonds will be taken from builders to ensure that there is no noise pollution beyond prescribed limits and hours at construction sites in the city, Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an interaction organised by the Mumbai Press Club, he also said that as per the response received by him, Mumbai residents deem noise pollution to be a serious problem. Police will take bonds of "good behaviour" under the Code of Criminal Procedure from builders to ensure that noise at construction sites will not cross 65 decibels and will not continue after prescribed hours, said Pandey, who held a press conference for the first time after taking over as the city's top cop last month. 

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When he shared his contact number on social media and asked for suggestions about how policing can be improved, he was expecting that people will talk about crime and the menace of gangsters, but was surprised to find that people talked more about noise pollution, Pandey said. 

He also held a meeting with members of construction business associations CREDAI- MCHI in this regard, Pandey said. Recently, a builder in suburban Matunga was charged under the Mumbai Police Act for continuing construction activity till 1 at night, the commissioner said. 

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"There is a section under the CrPC, which says you have to furnish a bond (under certain circumstances) and you have to furnish it so that you will not do it again," he said, adding such a bond could run into several lakhs of rupees. "In case you break the bond, you will probably be behind the bars or pay that much money," Pandey added. 

"I am not threatening anybody, but I am saying if you have been given time, a decibel level (it should be followed)...The decibel level is 65 for builders," he said. "From March 31, builders must install sound cutters, which will reduce noise," Pandey added. Narcotic drugs was a huge menace in Mumbai, he said.