TOI : SC rejects petition for relaxation of noise ban : Sept 22, 2007

SC rejects petition for relaxation of noise ban

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a petition for relaxation of
a ban on the use of loudspeakers and musical instruments between 10 pm and 6
am during the ongoing Ganesh festival.

    A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan refused to give an
early hearing to the petition which was filed by a Pune-based Ganesh mandal.
The petition said that noise level up to 40 decibels should be allowed
during the festival.

    Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the mandal, asked the bench
to hear the matter on Monday as the festival was coming to an end on
September 25. However, the request was denied and the matter was heard in
normal course.

    Rohatgi argued the visarjan procession continued throughout the night
and that some relaxation should be given as a contradiction had already been
pointed out in an earlier SC judgment. He argued the SC had said the noise
level should be at zero decibel from 10 pm-6 am, which was in conflict with
the rule that permits 40 Db. AGENCIES Noise down but silence zones suffer
Masjid Complaints Fall On Deaf Ears

Mumbai: First the good news. Noise levels in the city this festival season
appear to be significantly lower than 2006 if the decibel readings taken at
various Ganpati pandals in the city are any indication. And now for the bad
news: while the police have been enforcing the l o u d s p e a ke r
deadline, silence zone noise regulations, as specified by the Supreme Court,
are being violated everywhere.

    Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation, whose

preliminary reading of various pandals and masjids in the city shows the
above findings, says the police appear to be clueless on the rules for
silence zones (places which are in a 100-metre radius around hospitals,
educational institutions, places of worship and courts). "The Supreme Court
order of 2005 clearly says that the exemption granted to the government-to
extend the 10 pm loudspeaker deadline for 15 days every year-does not apply
to silence zones,'' she says. "But this is not being followed.'' A fortnight
before Ganesh Chaturthi, Abdulali wrote to Mumbai police chief D N Jadhav on
the specifics of the court order, but that, she says, has not helped.

    The activist, whose findings show that noise levels in silence zones
this festive season range between 80 and 105 decibels, cites the example of
a Ganpati pandal right next to Cumbala Hill hospital which she visited on
Tuesday night after getting a call from a resident. "The noise levels were
unbearable but the police refused to do anything,'' she says. "They told me
the only instructions they had received from their bosses were to allow
loudspeakers up to 12 pm.''

    At the various masjids holding Ramzan prayers, the situation is
infinitely worse, says Abdulali. "I've got complaints from all over the city
about masjids using loudspeakers as early

as 4 am,'' she says. "At a masjid near my house in Bandra, they burst
ear-splitting crackers at that hour.'' A complaint to the DCP of the area
has had no effect, adds the activist. "It's a fact that the police hesitate
to take action against masjids,'' she says. "A man recently called me up
with a complaint about a group of four masjids in Chembur which broadcast
Ramzan prayers from 4 am to 6 am every day. He wrote to the DCP too but to
no avail.''

    K L Prasad, joint commissioner law & order, when questioned, maintains
that police stations have been given instructions on controlling noise
pollution everywhere, including silence zones and masjids, and don't need to
be told again. What about the violations then? "Citizens can send me a
written complaint,'' he says.

Victim of festival ' revelry'

    Karl Billimoria, a Mumbaikar who lives next to Cumballa Hill hospital, a
silence zone, says that his complaints to the Gamdevi police about a pandal
next to the hospital which blares music way beyond the 10 pm deadline have
been totally ignored. "The police give lame excuses or tell us lies like the
entire Ganpati festival has been exempted from the 10 pm deadline,'' he
says. "Sometimes they actually tell us that as long as there is no criminal
behaviour, we should not bother them.''

    Last year, when Billimoria was bashed up by a group of processionists
for telling them not to burst bombs after the 10 pm deadline, the police
were equally uncooperative. "They rounded up the boys who belonged to a
political party but refused to register an NC or FIR against them,'' he
says. The incident so traumatised Billimoria-whose eardrum burst when he was
beaten up and who now has permanent hearing loss-that he and his family
moved out of their house and have still not returned there. TNN


Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Date:Sep 22, 2007; Section:Times City;
Page Number:2

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