New Delhi: Residents of an upmarket locality near the Indira Gandhi International airport here have decided to knock the door of the High Court to get relief from acute noise pollution caused by frequent air traffic movement.

"The third runway at New Delhi's IGI airport might be a boon for decongesting air traffic movement, but for over a lakh residents in Vasant Kunj, it has become a major noise menace," S R Agarwal, vice president of RWA of Vasant Kunj Sector C Pocket 1 said.

At a meeting held yesterday, 32 presidents of Residents Welfare Association (RWAs) of the area along with the area Senior Citizen Welfare Association decided to lodge FIR and file a case in the High Court on the plea that their right to live in peace was being violated.

To highlight the matter, an NGO Chetna has launched a signature campaign as well as shot off a letter to Civil Aviation Ministry and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) seeking immediate intervention in the matter.

The residents in the area have been suffering from hearing loss, insomnia and also feeling constantly stressed due to deafening sounds caused by hovering aircrafts, Anil Sood from Chetna said.

Seventy-six-year-old Janak Taneja, President of Senior Citizen Welfare Association said, "The elders are at the receiving end. For the last few days since the opening of the runaway I have not been able to sleep and have to pop sleeping pills."

Agarwal feared that the situation is likely to worsen in the near future as 65 planes per hour are being planned from this landing strip.

"The sound is around 90 decibel against the normal 55 dB in the daytime and 45 dB permissible noise level in the night as stipulated by the CPCB," Agarwal said.
Source : PTI