Noisy Batong Line angers residential community
By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-06 11:36
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Sound complaints skyrocket as experts scramble to update noise pollution law
A Beijing community is demanding a soundproof wall be installed near their homes because of the "intolerable" noise from the nearby subway.
Residents in Cemdale City Crown, which is 50 meters from Sihui station on the Batong Line in the city's east, asked for the installation of the wall in a recent posts on their community website.
Wang Fa, who will soon move in to an apartment in the community, said the 22-story building where he will live is one of four worst affected by the noise.
"My apartment is only 30 m from the Batong line and the trains arrive every two minutes. It will drive me crazy after I move in this April," Wang said.
Tsinghua University's architecture and environment center said it had received thousands of complaints about noise since 2005, which reflected the city's rapid development.
Yan Xiang, the head of the noise examination department, said many callers asked for advice about how to handle the noise and their rights, but few asked for a sound test because it cost 3,500 yuan.
"In 2008, we went out for one sound test and we did two in 2009. Most of the time, people call us for consultations and I cannot remember the number of phone calls, it's countless," Yan said.
According to Yan, a residential community cannot be built within 50 m of a subway line. The soundproof wall for a 22-floor building needs to be at least 30 meters high and this still cannot prevent noise infiltration.
The Beijing subway construction company said the Batong line was constructed four years before Cemdale City Crown.
"Before we start a project, we ask the sound examination department to evaluate the impact of the subway on the surrounding environment. But the Cemdale City Crown community was built after we finished Batong line, so it's the responsibility of the real estate company," a spokesman told METRO.
The law on the prevention and control of environmental noise pollution, which came into effect in March 1997, stipulates that the control of noise is the responsibility of the party that was constructed second.
Wang Fa said that before he bought the apartment, the real estate company warned him that there would be noise from the subway line, but that he never thought the impact would be so "intolerable".
Chang Jiwen, a professor at institute of law from Chinese academy of social science said the law on noise pollution was being updated because it did not reflect the development of Beijing.
"Residents are pushed between the two sides of the real estate and subway construction companies, that's why noise pollution caused by subways can hardly be solved," Chang said.