<< Mumbai routinely runs its international flights mostly in the hours before dawn. After all these years, last week there was a demonstration by 100 odd locals at Sahar led by a fellow with a Goan sounding name, calling for a night curfew due to noise levels. The group has sought to link up airport noise with the Supreme Court's order banning loudspeakers. It is not known if anything will come out of this move because of the deeply entrenched system of scheduling international flights in this part of the world. Maybe there will be some nuisance value to line the pockets of the leaders. >> Philip T
The devil with these natives. How dare Dogs and Indians presume they are entitled to basic creature comforts like a noiseless and peaceful night's sleep? >:( Yes, Philip, I take exception to your comments. A copy of the report in The Times of India, Mumbai, is appended below. Maybe it's time to call back the *Concorde*? Lawrence ----- See: http://epaperdaily.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp? Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA1LzA5LzIyI0FyMDAzMDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom Publication: Times Of India Mumbai Date: 22/09/2005 Section: Times City Page Number: 3 Residents send notice to ban night flights By Manju V/TNN Mumbai: Moving a step ahead in the fight to stop night flights at Mumbai airport, a legal notice was sent to the deputy police commissioner of the airport area by a resident on Tuesday asking him to take action under the Environment Protection Act, failing which the matter would be moved to the Bombay high court. The notice, send by Nicholas Almeida, former corporator and a resident of Vile Parle to DCP Shasikant Shinde asks for action to be initiated against airport officials who have been violating the sound pollution guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. A copy of the notice was also sent to deputy chief minister R R Patil. "I've not received the notice yet,'' said Shinde. Said Almeida: "The legal notice follows the letter we sent to the DCP on July 26, informing him about the SC judgement on noise pollution. The night operations carried out in the airport is in violation of the Noise Pollution Control Rule 2000.'' "If no cognisance is taken within 60 days of the July letter, we will move the court,'' he added. A few weeks ago, Almeida along with over a hundred residents held a demonstration outside the Sahar airport police station demanding that Mumbai airport operations be suspended between 10 pm and 6 am. The argument was that night curfew is observed in most international airports and so it should be followed here as well. The argument hinged on the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Sound Pollution rules which has laid down decibel levels for noise in different areas during the night and day. Though a noise level of more than 45 decibels is not permissible in a residential area during night, a jet aircraft while taking off generates around around 140 decibels of sound at close quarters and about 100 decibels in surrounding areas. Since most international flights take off from Mumbai airport in the wee hours of the morning, the protesters deemed it to be a violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. The Mumbai airport runway, which sees about 500 landings/take-offs a day has no such noise monitoring gadgets, nor do they have plans to install any in the future.