Builders will have to furnish bonds about avoiding noise pollution: Mumbai police commissioner

Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey. File Photo

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 organized 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.

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.

"Noise is a huge problem in the city. Kids are not able to sleep, there are seniors who can not have any kind of rest," he said.

The commissioner noted that even as he was speaking, there was noise of metro station construction in the background.

He 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.

"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.

"There is a great agency, which only talks about very big seizures," the commissioner said, without specifying which agency, state or central, he was talking about.

He added that even in the police force, there was this thinking that only "quality cases" are to be handled by the specialised anti-narcotic cell while "quantity cases" will be probed at police stations.

In reality, every drug consumption and transaction is a serious matter for society, Pandey said, promising action against drugs across the city in the coming days.

Speaking about the increase in cyber-crimes, he said the absence of a law to deal with cyber-crimes was a major issue as provisions of the Information Technology Act were not enough.

Specifically, there needs to be a law about data protection and privacy, he said.

Pandey also said that as per the present rules only inspector-level officers can probe cyber crimes, which delays the investigation of such cases, and the situation can improve if lower-level officials are also allowed to probe these cases.

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