South Mumbai residents can't sleep because of THIS reason

The Nepean Sea Road Citizens Forum, too, emailed traffic authorities on December 1. File pic/Ashish Raje

Viren Shah, president Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) and Worli resident sent an email dated December 1, to the joint commissioner of police (traffic) alerting him to cars racing down a stretch of the Coastal Road near his home, creating a deafening ruckus. Shah said, "This is not regular traffic noise. This is the noise from race cars being driven on that stretch."

His email stated, "The new Coastal Road is right in front of my building in Worli. I have noticed that on many nights, from 10 pm to 12 am, there are racing cars with huge noise of mufflers (through loud exhausts) that are zooming by post 10 pm. It is very noisy and extremely disturbing to residents living very close to this Coastal Road. I understand that such a loud noise created specifically through such modified mufflers, creating noise pollution/nuisance is not allowed."

Replacing a vehicle's muffler with one that's designed to increase sound rather than absorb it, makes a vehicle's exhaust system louder. Shah specified in his communication that, "The Central Govt's Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules: 2000 mandates that ambient noise should not exceed 55 dB during daytime and 45 dB during night time in residential areas. For silence zones, it is 50 dB and 40 dB respectively."

Shah pointed out that so many residential buildings are extremely close to this Coastal Road. "These are buildings in Worli, Breach Candy… even the well-known Breach Candy Hospital is along this Coastal Road." He ended with an appeal that strong action under the law, "Should be taken against these noise polluters to stop racing cars disturbing the peace of Worli and Breach Candy."

Shah told mid-day, "These are luxury race cars and not ordinary vehicles. I am not against race cars, in fact, I love driving such cars. Yet, they should be driven on specific tracks meant for that purpose. I have driven such race cars in Dubai and London. Here, too, we have certain circuits in India, where these race cars can be driven. This communication is to create awareness and I am hoping for an answer and action soon. For a couple of days, I did not take this noise very seriously. Then, I noticed a pattern this huge noise is heard regularly, in this time slot. It is so disturbing every day, as people may be sleeping, winding down with families. I also pointed out about the hospital. These racing machines and the men behind the wheel must understand the definition of a Coastal Road. This is a road, not a race track. Whether relatively empty or crowded with other cars, drive according to rules and within speed and noise limits," he finished.

Nepean noise

The Nepean Sea Road Citizens Forum too had emailed traffic authorities on December 1. The complaint said, "We, the Nepean Sea Road Citizens Forum, are writing to draw your attention to a growing and alarming issue of noise pollution caused by supercars with loud sports exhausts racing on the new Coastal Road and in the Coastal Road tunnel. Today, on Sunday, Dec 1, the residents of Nepean Sea Road and Breach Candy were subjected to extreme harassment due to the incessant loud noises created by these supercars and vehicles with loud sports exhausts racing on the Coastal Road. The modified mufflers and loud exhaust sounds disrupt the peace of our neighbourhoods and violate permissible noise levels. This problem has been especially prevalent during Sunday mornings and on some weekdays and night hours (10 pm to 12 am) and has caused significant disturbance to residents."

It also stated that the noise compromises the sanctity of nearby silence zones, including Breach Candy Hospital. The Nepean Sea Road communication continued, "We urge your office to take immediate steps to address this issue:

>> Conduct regular patrolling during late-night hours and on weekend mornings to identify and penalise violators racing supercars.

>> Strictly enforce laws against the use of modified and illegally loud exhausts by supercars."