Notices served to religious centres, DJ operators to keep noise under control

Amid incidents of violence during celebration of festivals in some states, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that no religious procession should be taken out without permission from the authorities and the use of loudspeakers should not inconvenience others

The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Tuesday issued notices to religious places, marriage halls and DJ operators in the district to comply with the instructions issued by the Uttar Pradesh government with regard to checking decibel levels and ensure that the sound amplification devices used by them do not cross the permitted ‘ambient air quality standards with respect to noise’ marked for certain zones.

A peace committee meeting was organised in the presence of deputy commissioner of police and senior officers of all three zones of the commissionerate in which religious heads, village heads and city panchayat members participated. (Sourced)

In order to ensure implementation of the same, police will conduct surprise checks in different areas and use audiometers to check the decibel levels, said officials.

Amid incidents of violence during celebration of festivals in some states, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that no religious procession should be taken out without permission from the authorities and the use of loudspeakers should not inconvenience others.

Notices were issued to 621 temples, 268 mosques, 217 marriage halls, 182 DJ operators and 16 other religious places in the district.

“The notices informed the caretakers of these places about the instructions given by the high court regarding sound amplification devices,” said Love Kumar, joint commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar.

An official statement from the commissionerate added that action will be taken against those who violate the instructions of the high court. According to the order, the sound from loudspeakers should not exceed 70 decibel for commercial areas and 65 decibel for residential areas and the devices should not be used at night (between 10pm to 6am).

Commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, Alok Sigh said that residents were also informed about ‘silence zones’ that have been marked in the district, where use of loudspeakers is strictly prohibited. “Places around hospitals and schools are ‘silence zones’ in the district, where use of loudspeakers is banned,” he said.

The commissioner added that audiometers will be used by police teams to check sound levels in the district.

“The Gautam Budh Nagar police has two audiometers, which will be used to measure decibel levels of loudspeakers. Apart from this, the regional office of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board in Gautam Budh Nagar also has two audiometers,which will be used by the police,” said the officer.

Apart from this, police teams will conduct surprise checks in the district to check the implementation of the order. “Surprise checks will be conducted in places where police officials feel that there is a likelihood of people violating the order,” said Singh.