Mumbai: The Mumbai city collector has directed all gymkhanas including the Wilson Gymkhana in south Mumbai not to use floodlights beyond 10 pm. The collector is also going to write to the State government authorities such as MPCB and others to frame guidelines for use of floodlights to prevent light pollution in the surroundings.
Nilesh Desai, a resident of South Mumbai, complained to District Collector Sampada Mehta about the light pollution created by Wilson Gymkhana in August 2017. The gymkhana erected floodlights and is using it during the night, that spoils the right to the darkness of Marine Drive residents. Referring to the complaint by Desai, Collector Mehta held a hearing on it in last week, where the collector asked the officials to write to the State government authority to frame a policy or guidelines for erecting floodlights to prevent light pollution.
Earlier, the collector had issued a notice to the Wilson Gymkhana over light pollution after a complaint from the residents of south Mumbai.
Complainant Nilesh Desai, Sirvaiya from Wilson Gymkhana and trustee Ameen Pawar were present for the hearing. Collector Mehta directed all the gymkhanas not to use the floodlights beyond 10 pm.
The gymkhana land is owned by the revenue department, but events such as sports competitions and weddings, among others, are organised by Wilson Multimedia Private Limited. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) official said that this is termed as a light pollution, but it is not defined in India. “We haven’t revived any communication from the district collector. After we receive it, we will think about the policy after discussion with our seniors,” said MB Patil, Director of MPCB.
Abhay Deshmukh, an expert in light pollution, said, “It is good that the government agency is thinking about framing guidelines.”
