The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has established a specialized task force to examine construction sites every week around the city. The force was established to investigate the noise and sound pollution that the city’s ongoing development and building projects are causing.
NMMC has been working on a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to address sound and air pollution caused by construction work throughout the city for the past eight months, in compliance with an order issued by the Bombay High court on December 11, 2023, in response to a suo-moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL) hearing.
As a result, on April 24 of this year, the civic council established a committee to create the SOPs that construction companies must adhere to. The committee has also suggested the proper punishment measures that should be applied to the violators concurrently. Municipal Commissioner Kailas Shinde approved the SOP and disciplinary action proposed on July 26. The final approval was granted on August 1, 2024.
The Bombay High Court ordered all municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to find solutions to reduce pollution caused by development last year due to the MMR’s deteriorating air quality. The NMMC Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) imposes stringent regulations on developers and construction companies when they perform excavation and blasting operations for multi-room basements.
Source: The Free Press Journal
