Construction activity gives sleepless nights to residents

HYDERABAD: With several buildings under construction at Bandlaguda’s P & T

colony

, getting uninterrupted sleep in the night has become next to impossible for the residents of the area. Locals complain that their sleep gets interrupted in the middle of the night due to the noise of rocks being broken, continuous drilling and movement of heavy machinery and trucks loading and unloading construction material.


Parveen Sultana, a 68-year-old resident of P & T colony who stays adjacent to a construction site, said: “The construction work started in March 2018. As the area has huge rock formations, the construction workers started using heavy drilling machines and resorted to blasting to break these rock formations and lay the foundation of houses. The noise of these machines is deafening and unbearable.”

She added that though the contractor had said that the work would be over in 10 days, but it is still continuing. On receiving a complaint from Sultana, the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) inspected the site to record the noise levels and stated that the noise levels are above the permissible limits.

As per the TSPCB inspection, the noise levels recorded at the entrance of the complainant’s residence was 92 decibels against the prescribed limit of 55 decibels during day time and 45 decibels during night time.

Another resident of P & T colony, M Anitha (name changed) said, “The noise is unbearable at times. Sometimes, we have to call the police and seek their help to stop the noise during the night.”

Meanwhile, a few construction workers in the surrounding areas said they have stopped the construction works during the night after the police intervened.

When contacted, the Rajendranagar police officials said, “We have filed an FIR against those responsible for this menace and the case is under investigation. One person who continued with the construction works during night left for Dubai after a complaint was registered. We will take necessary action against him whenever he returns,” said G Suresh, sub-inspector, Rajendranagar police station.