Sorry, you’ve run out of time for today

The recent Karnataka High Court order prohibiting all builders from carrying out construction activities before 8 am and after 6 pm might have come as a relief to many residential localities in the city, however, the problem persists as people in the vicinity of many areas still seem to bear the burnt of construction activities.

 K Ravikumar, Assistant Executive Engineer of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) informs, “This month alone I received three complaints from residents of Kuvempu Nagar.”

When City Express spoke to DCP of North East, B R Ravikante Gowda, he said, “Most of the time people complaint directly to the BBMP and they in turn approach us.”

JP Nagar 1st Phase Residents’ Welfare Association had filed a public-interest litigation (PIL) after which the high court had ordered that no construction should take place before 8 am and after 6 pm.

According to Secretary of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of JP Nagar 1st phase, B R Udupa, CREDAI has now given a petition stating that the order was impractical and will hamper their construction plans.

 “The court has now extended the date for further consideration on October 4, but the order of no construction activity after 6 pm and before 8 am stays,” he said. 

“People now have a right to interrupt the construction activities that go on in their vicinity at all times.  Earlier, any attempt to stop the activities would lead to a quarrel or argument,” says Sujith Appaiah, a resident of SG Palya which has become a hub for construction activities like many other residential areas.

Voicing a similar concern, Leena Parvathi, a housewife says, “The construction workers are ignorant about the ruling, hence they go on working till the contractor comes and stop them. Many a time people do not bother to go and interfere.  Despite the ruling by the High Court, construction activities are going on during non-permissible hours. Either most of the nuisance goes unrecorded as people do not have time to complain about such issues or they have no idea as to where to complain.”

On the other hand, many construction companies in the city feels that the restrictions on the time limit have adversely affected their work.  An official from a construction company said, “The movement of the materials within the city limits is possible only during night hence it becomes difficult for us as it has a cascading affect on our business.” He further added,“It is similar to other infrastructure projects that government undertakes.  We understand sound pollution and disturbance during sleeping hours, hence they could have kept the time from 6 am to 10 pm.”

To this Udupa says, “The supreme court order states that for any public event or festivals, the decibel levels and celebrations should stop after 10 pm. How can they compare it with construction work.  In our area, they had put up 200 ft high floodlights till late in the night. It was a complete war zone.  Thankfully, after the HC order, the construction company has stopped works after 6 pm.”

A BBMP official said, “People must complain about construction activities in their residential areas to the concerned Assistant Executive Engineers or lodge a complaint at the police station directly.”

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