Sion society now hopes for a breath of fresh air
Residents of a Sion society, who have been complaining of severe air pollution in their locality due to constant movement of cement trucks for the past six months, can now hope to breathe a sigh of relief.
Spurred by a Mirror report on the worsening air quality around Everard Nagar society, officials from KJ Somaiya Trust and cement company ACC on Monday met representatives of the affected residents to discuss a solution.
According to the residents, trucks use a service road that runs along their 45-year-old housing complex, to bring cement from an ACC unit located on KJ Somaiya grounds. The increase in cement particles in the air is affecting their health, they allege. Somaiya officials said the residents have suggested three alternate routes for the trucks. V Rangnathan, secretary of the trust, told Mirror, “We will study the alternatives and seek necessary permissions from the civic authorities to access them. We are doing our best to help the residents. We hope to solve the issue in a week’s time.”
However, the residents are unhappy with the third option – a road behind Everard Nagar. “Whenever heavy trucks pass by, our buildings start to rumble. If the trucks use the back road, the problem will still remain,” she adds stating that the trucks ply till as late as 1 am and the constant rumble is a nuisance to the residents. “The officials have told us that the permissions from the concerned authorities should fall in place soon and the problem should be solved in a week. We are hoping for the best,” she said.
On Saturday, Mirror had reported about the problems the residents of Everard Nagar were facing owing to the cement trucks on the service road. Despite several complaints to the BMC, police, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and officials from KJ Somaiya and ACC cement, the residents had received no help.
Spurred by a Mirror report on the worsening air quality around Everard Nagar society, officials from KJ Somaiya Trust and cement company ACC on Monday met representatives of the affected residents to discuss a solution.
According to the residents, trucks use a service road that runs along their 45-year-old housing complex, to bring cement from an ACC unit located on KJ Somaiya grounds. The increase in cement particles in the air is affecting their health, they allege. Somaiya officials said the residents have suggested three alternate routes for the trucks. V Rangnathan, secretary of the trust, told Mirror, “We will study the alternatives and seek necessary permissions from the civic authorities to access them. We are doing our best to help the residents. We hope to solve the issue in a week’s time.”
Saraswathi Sundareswaran, one of the residents, said Somaiya officials got in touch with her following Mirror’s April 30 report. “They asked us if we could meet them on Monday. Two officials from ACC also visited us on Saturday to discuss the issue.” said Sundareswaran, who present at the meeting on Monday. “The first route that was decided was that the trucks directly go on to the main road from the main gate of KJ Somaiya. The second one was that within the KJ Somaiya compound, there is an access to the IMAX road that is blocked as a small drain runs between the roads. If the officials are able to build a path over it, that will help us the most,” Sundareswaran said.
However, the residents are unhappy with the third option – a road behind Everard Nagar. “Whenever heavy trucks pass by, our buildings start to rumble. If the trucks use the back road, the problem will still remain,” she adds stating that the trucks ply till as late as 1 am and the constant rumble is a nuisance to the residents. “The officials have told us that the permissions from the concerned authorities should fall in place soon and the problem should be solved in a week. We are hoping for the best,” she said.
On Saturday, Mirror had reported about the problems the residents of Everard Nagar were facing owing to the cement trucks on the service road. Despite several complaints to the BMC, police, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and officials from KJ Somaiya and ACC cement, the residents had received no help.
