The Ghatkopar police have booked six people from Skyway RMC Plant and Swastik RMC Plant for undertaking construction-related work behind Phoenix Market City at Kurla’s Kamani area and thereby violating guidelines on noise and air pollution by the Bombay High Court.
Details of case
A man named Sanjay Tiwari, a resident of Kajupada in Saki Naka is the one who first alerted the police during the early hours of Saturday. Other residents of the area, Tiwari said, informed him about some work going on behind Phoenix Market City. He added that several trucks carrying cement were coming inside out, causing air pollution and heavy metal sounds of cement being mixed were coming from the inside of the company. Immediately after, they called the Mumbai Police control room and a team of police officers from Ghatkopar police station reached the spot.
Along with the police, Tiwari and other fellow residents went inside the company. When they were asked if they had acquired permission to run the work, they said no.
The restrictions on construction
According to the norms, in an attempt to bring down noise pollution in Mumbai, construction work is restricted between 10 pm to 6 am. In case work needs to be undertaken on a priority basis, developers will have to request special permission from the local authorities. The six booked accused include Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Yadav, Satish Bankar, Avinash Molawade, and other employees at the plant.
All of them have been slapped with charges including 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant), 268 (public nuisance), 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), and 34 (common intention) among others of the Indian Penal Code.
Silent Sundays initiative
Mumbai police's Silent Sundays initiative, along with the CREDAI-MCHI (a government-recognised body for private sector developers in MMR) had earlier issued an advisory to strictly ensure that no work is carried out from 10 pm to 6 am on weekdays, and refraining from making any noise-making construction activities like piling, excavation, breaking etc, on Sundays.
