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Following the directions issued by the Allahabad High court, the UP government has forbidden the use of loudspeakers and the public-address systems at the time of festivals or at religious places without the authority of the Government. It has also warned that all such loudspeakers which fail to take permission within January 15 will be removed by the 20th of January and action would be taken against the organisers under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control Rules) 2000. The Court has actively sought to know the situation of unauthorised loudspeakers and the responsibility that is mandated to be fixed on state officials for carelessness in this respect.
A 10-page order was issued on January 4, asking all the senior officials of the State to form teams to identify the illegal use in various districts. After identification, the Government will classify each district into separate categories of industrial, commercial, residential and silence zones. Each of these areas will have varied limits on the amount of sound permitted. The level of noise allowed is 10 decibels above ambient noise standards for the periphery of a public place and 5 decibels above ambient noise standards for private places.
On December 20, 2017, a PIL was filed by the Advocate Moti Lal Yadav in response to which a divisional bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Abdul Moin queried regarding the existence of written permissions for establishments of loud speakers. The court also served personal notices on the Principal secretary and the chairman of state pollution control Board for explanations within 6 weeks in regard to the compliance with noise pollution rules, 2000.
This decision of the Court is in line with a spate of judicial judgments mandating the need for compliance with environmental standards even when conducting a festival or event important to the religion of the group. The SC’s recent order banning the sale of firecrackers is also one such judgment indicating the active role played by the courts to protect the environment even at the cost of interference in religious practices.
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