The pollution caused by construction of houses along the EM Bypass connector in Kasba is affecting those who stay in the area. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The problem

We live in Lalkuthi, off the Kasba EM Bypass connector, on the southern fringes of Calcutta. Our survival has become almost impossible because of noise and air pollution related to construction of houses.

Like many other parts of the city, several four to five-storey houses are coming up in the city. The construction and associated activities continue late into night and has become so bothersome that given a chance, we, with sick elderly people at home as well as children, are thinking of shifting to another part of the city.

The unloading of building materials, often after midnight, is highly irritable. Apart from constant noise pollution, the dust generated by such activities is hazardous to health. Often, water accumulates in half-constructed buildings, and we are afraid of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria or dengue.

Who cares

The local councillor says it is not his responsibility to stop pollution. Police directs us to the state Pollution Control Board and the board advises us to complain to the municipality. It appears that the administration and political parties have become part of a nexus of promoters and developers.

When I recently went to complain to the pollution control board, I learnt that it now has no role in controlling pollution from any construction activity involving smaller buildings!

Sabuj Mukhopadhyay
15/A Bediabari Masjidbari Lane, Calcutta 39.

(Readers are invited to write to sunday.metro@abp.in to highlight environment hazards in the city)

Stat Talk

Pollution and construction

The new Environment Impact Assessment Act, 2006, says that one need not take any environmental clearance for buildings that cover less than 220,000 square feet. Earlier, there was a norm in the state making it obligatory to seek clearance from the board for houses larger than 60,000 sq ft or with more than 100 flats. The state is now following the new central norm regarding pollution because of construction, though it has the option of sticking to the tougher regulation.

Jayanta Basu