Pimpri Chinchwad Civic Body Imposes Time Restrictions

Pimpri Chinchwad municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh announced time restrictions for construction activities within the city limits, aimed at reducing air and noise pollution. Building constructions will now be allowed from 7am to 10pm, Singh told TOI on the sidelines of an event organised by real estate body Naredco. There are no existing guidelines on time restrictions for construction activities under the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR) rules. The corporation has issued a circular to this effect, and although some pushback is expected from the real estate sector, it is a necessary step that needs to be taken to improve the quality of life, he added. "We are trying to restrict the construction time, and this is somewhat controversial, especially during the night hours. But if you have a construction site operating at night next to your house, and if you have a senior citizen or a patient, the noise becomes a major issue," he said. In 2023-24, PCMC gave permission to 1,143 construction projects, of which 284 are in Ravet, 192 in Wakad, and 138 in Kiwale, along with other areas such as Mamurdi, Tathavade, Punawale, and Moshi. It gave permission for the construction of 567 high-rise building projects, as per information in its environment status report for the year. Although there is a significant industrial area in PCMC, bulk of the projects are pertaining to residential developments in light of the rising population in the area. Singh said that developers need to schedule in a way so that all the noise generating operations can happen during the day, and this is one thing that PCMC is increasingly monitoring. "The real estate sector should take more care regarding the impact on air quality. We are reaching a point where we need to have micro air quality monitors. I am a native of Delhi, and I know how the city changed for the worse in the past 15 years," he said. "But we have seen a great turnaround around the world, including cities like London in the 1950s to Beijing in 2008, and how they progressed. There is much more our cities need to do to adopt best practices in the industry," he added. Among other initiatives, the corporation is initially mandating users and developers to use tap aerators in all future projects, but how people later on take it is a different thing, he said. PCMC has also directed developers that it will not issue new construction permission without a water meter for each flat. Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad munucipal commissioner Shekhar Singh on Thursday announced time restrictions for construction activities within the city limits, aimed at reducing air and noise pollution.