decibels drown festive fervour
rules being flouted in silence zones: ngo
smita deshmukh

environmentalists are finding it difficult to turn a deaf ear to the noise pollution because of ganesha and ramzan celebrations.

a survey by ngo awaaz foundation has shown that the noise level in silence zones is more than the permissible limit. a silence zone is an area within 100 metres of hospitals, educational institutions, religious places and courts. a survey on september 20 -- one of the three days on which the government had allowed the use of loudspeakers till midnight -- showed a violation of the zone-wise permissible noise limit.

"on september 20, the mandals had stopped using loudspeakers after midnight. but we found that the visarjan route towards girgaon chowpatty, which is a silence zone because of several hospitals, and the siddhivinayak temple area and lalbaug had high noise levels," said sumaira abdulali, the founder of awaaz foundation. "also, loudspeakers and firecrackers used by masjids have high decibel levels," he said.

moreover, the police role is questionable. when abdulali phoned the control room, the policemen on duty had no information. "the police shut down loudspeakers only at midnight. they are not interested in firecrackers or drums, which too produce loud noise. though the police have submitted an affidavit in court saying they have decibel meters, several policemen have told people, especially senior citizens, that they don't have such meters," said abdulali.
environmentalist sunjoy monga said, "with the political bosses turning festivals into battlegrounds, what can the cops do?"

Publication : DNA; Section : mumbai; Pg :3; Date : 24/9/07
URL : http://digital.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?edorsup=Main&queryed=9&querypage=3&boxid=30858666&parentid=48619&eddate=09/24/2007