After a series of orders to put the brakes on the rising levels of air pollution, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has now decided to turn its attention on noise pollution as well. The green panel on Thursday decided to convene a meeting of stakeholders on May 5 to devise strategy for an “effective” solution to the problem of noise pollution caused due to heavy traffic near Panchsheel Park in South Delhi.
Directing the Chief Secretary of Delhi Government, officers of departments concerned and members of Panchshila Enclave Cooperative House Building Society, a bench headed by Justice UD Salvi asked them to be present on May 5 at 4 pm in the conference room of the tribunal for the meeting. Allowing the participation of elected managing committee members of Panchshila Enclave Cooperative House Building Society in the meeting, the bench said that since the concerned parties are eager to find a real solution, it hopes that such a meeting would be held on a mutually agreed date.
The directions came while hearing a petition of Panchsheel Park resident Omesh Saigal, who had alleged that noise pollution, generated due to heavy traffic flow on Outer Ring Road, was affecting the health of people living in the area. Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had also informed the tribunal that roadside noise levels near Panchsheel Park area were beyond permissible limits.
On March 11, the tribunal had directed the authorities to declare the area as a “No Horn” zone with immediate effect. It had also ordered them to install necessary boards at conspicuous locations and confine the speed of vehicles in the area to 30 km per hour. And imposing a ban on the use of pressure horns, it had also directed police to “strictly” prevent overloaded vehicles in the area.
The green panel had also directed installation of speed cameras to monitor speed of the vehicles and asked the residents of Panchsheel Park to insulate the windows of their houses so that minimum sound pollution is caused. It had also directed the employment of methods like vegetative boundaries to confine the noise.