BANGALORE: Thick smoke and high decibel levels generated by scores of vehicles that continuously pass through Muneshwara Block have made life miserable for the residents of this locality on Hanumanthanagar 50-Foot Road.

Just as the locals have resigned themselves to living with such air and noise pollution, they have to now suffer the nuisance caused by a couple of stone polishing units that are operating in violation of zonal regulations.

Muneshwara Block is strictly a residential area in Sreenivasanagar ward in South Bangalore. Such pollution-causing and hazardous units have come up in several residential areas in the city, mainly in middle-class localities, and Muneshwara Block is only a case in point.

A cloud of fine dust and whirring of machines welcome you as you enter Nehru Road that connects Muneshwara Block with Girinagar. Throughout the day, labourers cut and polish granite and black kadapa slabs using machines in the open area at a polishing unit here.

Hapless families, who had settled in this once-quiet haven, are today being forced to endure a polluted locality, thanks to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that has apparently allowed the stone-polishing unit to function in the residential area for the past few years.

"Most of the time we keep the doors and windows of our house closed. When we get a phone call, we cannot properly hear the caller because of the sound from the unit," says Manjula S., a resident.

The stone-polishing unit, which is situated next to a private school, is also bothering hundreds of students, residents point out.

Another such unit on the 50-Foot Road, off 20th Cross, is surrounded by several houses. Those running the unit have even stored wash basins (sinks) and other granite and marble ware on the footpath, obstructing the pedestrian way.

A former councillor of a neighbouring ward told The Hindu that according to the zonal regulations, the BBMP cannot allow such units to operate from a residential area.

When contacted, the BBMP's Joint Commissioner (South) V. Yeshwanth said the units are apparently unauthorised. "I will immediately direct the officials to inspect the units and take necessary action," he said.

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