“The way the event is conducted on Marine Drive has become intolerable for residents, particularly because the disturbance begins in the middle of the night and continues well into the morning. So, before the mega public event takes place in January, we wrote a letter to the BMC requesting them to reduce excessive noise and disturbance,” Gupta added.
According to locals, the marathon starts at Azad Maidan and the marathoners reach Nariman Point via Churchgate and then they run on the Marine Drive stretch to reach Worli via Peddar Road. The Half Marathoners return from Worli and the full marathoners use Sea Link.
The letter, sent to the Assistant Municipal Commissioner (AMC) Jaydeep More on Wednesday, reads: “We fully appreciate the importance of the event for the city and its spirit of fitness and charity, but we face specific issues, including the erection of stages, barricades, and other infrastructure, which begins as early as 1-3 am, involving hammering, movement of heavy vehicles, and shouting by workers.”
“High-volume music systems and public-address systems are switched on as early as 6 am (and sometimes even earlier), even though only the elite runners start at that hour and require no amplified encouragement,” reads the letter. “The volume of the speakers is excessively high and far beyond permissible limits for a residential area.”
The letter further highlights that multiple stages are placed too close to one another, causing overlapping and loud sounds that becomes “unbearable”, adding that “commentators and announcers speak at extremely high volumes and, for several hours, repeat largely irrelevant or trivial commentary that serves no real purpose for the runners.”
‘No noise in international
marathons’
Gupta further said that in most major international marathons in London, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, etc., there are no loud music stages or non-stop commentary along the entire route. “Runners are supported by friends, family, and charity groups in a natural and dignified manner,” said Gupta.
“Marine Drive is a purely residential neighbourhood with a large number of senior citizens. The current format of the event effectively denies us sleep and peace for an entire night and morning,” he added.
The Association has demanded that the BMC shift all setup activity to after 5 am or use silent/noiseless methods during night hours, enforce strict decibel limits — not exceeding 55 dB at the building line — and regular monitoring by MCGM noise-pollution officials. They also demanded the BMC restricts non-stop amplified commentary.
Instead of Marine Drive, Gupta suggests that the stages be erected at the Coastal Road promenade. “There is a large and beautiful Coastal Road promenade, where the celebrations can be held,” he said, adding, “We are not against the event, we simply seek a balance that allows the event to take place without causing extreme hardship to those who live here all year long.” Moreover, Gupta highlighted that Marine Drive residents are facing massive inconvenience due to the bikers’ gang.
“Besides this issue, the residents of Marine Drive are facing massive inconvenience due to the bikers’ gang who create noise pollution all night long, especially during the weekend. Though the Mumbai police do take action, the bikers’ gang is not scared of facing legal consequences,” Gupta said.
A BMC officer said, “We have escalated the suggestions to our senior officials to decide on it.”
According to locals, the marathon starts at Azad Maidan and the marathoners reach Nariman Point via Churchgate and then they run on the Marine Drive stretch to reach Worli via Peddar Road. The Half Marathoners return from Worli and the full marathoners use Sea Link.
The letter, sent to the Assistant Municipal Commissioner (AMC) Jaydeep More on Wednesday, reads: “We fully appreciate the importance of the event for the city and its spirit of fitness and charity, but we face specific issues, including the erection of stages, barricades, and other infrastructure, which begins as early as 1-3 am, involving hammering, movement of heavy vehicles, and shouting by workers.”
“High-volume music systems and public-address systems are switched on as early as 6 am (and sometimes even earlier), even though only the elite runners start at that hour and require no amplified encouragement,” reads the letter. “The volume of the speakers is excessively high and far beyond permissible limits for a residential area.”
The letter further highlights that multiple stages are placed too close to one another, causing overlapping and loud sounds that becomes “unbearable”, adding that “commentators and announcers speak at extremely high volumes and, for several hours, repeat largely irrelevant or trivial commentary that serves no real purpose for the runners.”
‘No noise in international
marathons’
Gupta further said that in most major international marathons in London, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, etc., there are no loud music stages or non-stop commentary along the entire route. “Runners are supported by friends, family, and charity groups in a natural and dignified manner,” said Gupta.
“Marine Drive is a purely residential neighbourhood with a large number of senior citizens. The current format of the event effectively denies us sleep and peace for an entire night and morning,” he added.
The Association has demanded that the BMC shift all setup activity to after 5 am or use silent/noiseless methods during night hours, enforce strict decibel limits — not exceeding 55 dB at the building line — and regular monitoring by MCGM noise-pollution officials. They also demanded the BMC restricts non-stop amplified commentary.
Instead of Marine Drive, Gupta suggests that the stages be erected at the Coastal Road promenade. “There is a large and beautiful Coastal Road promenade, where the celebrations can be held,” he said, adding, “We are not against the event, we simply seek a balance that allows the event to take place without causing extreme hardship to those who live here all year long.” Moreover, Gupta highlighted that Marine Drive residents are facing massive inconvenience due to the bikers’ gang.
“Besides this issue, the residents of Marine Drive are facing massive inconvenience due to the bikers’ gang who create noise pollution all night long, especially during the weekend. Though the Mumbai police do take action, the bikers’ gang is not scared of facing legal consequences,” Gupta said.
A BMC officer said, “We have escalated the suggestions to our senior officials to decide on it.”