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Two die of exposure to high decibel sound during Ganesh immersion processions in Sangli
According to the police, Pawashe was working in the Palus area and returned home Monday evening after finishing his work
PUNE: Two men from Sangli district died allegedly due to exposure to high decibel DJ sound systems during the Ganesh immersion procession Monday night.
The deceased have been identified as Shekhar Sukhadev Pawashe, 32, a resident of Kavathe Ekand, Tasgaon; and Pravin Yashwant Shirtode, 35, a resident of Dudhari, Walwa tehsil. Both incidents occurred Monday night during the Ganesh immersion procession in the respective villages in Sangli district.
According to the police, Pawashe was working in the Palus area and returned home Monday evening after finishing his work. Later, he attended the Ganesh immersion procession with his daughter. After returning home from the procession, he felt pain in his chest and died later. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead before arrival. However, the Tasgaon police refuted claims that Pawashe died due to exposure to high decibel sound.
Somnath Wagh, police inspector at the Tasgaon police station, said, “He was a heart patient and recently underwent surgery. He died due to heart attack and no one from his family approached the police regarding the same.” As Pawashe’s relatives had already cremated his dead body, the police could not conduct a post-mortem in the case.
Whereas in the Dudhari incident, Shirtode, a labourer, was on his way home Monday evening when he felt drowsy and uneasy. Ganesh mandal workers who were busy with the immersion procession immediately rushed him to a doctor, but he was declared dead. Sanjay Harugde, police inspector at the Islampur police station, said, “Two years ago, Shirtode suffered from tuberculosis and currently too, he was suffering from epilepsy (fits). He might have died due to his health issues.”
Harugde informed that Shirtode’s viscera had been preserved and that the exact reason behind his death would be clear after the post-mortem report.
According to the locals of the two villages however, the high decibel sound during the Ganesh immersion processions was the reason behind Pawashe and Shirtode’s death.
Satish Vasantrao Sakhalkar, a social worker from Sangli, approached the Sangli superintendent of police (SP) to intervene in the matter and requested that strict action be taken against those who had violated noise pollution norms. “How will the police accept that these deaths are due to high decibel sound? They have only said that the health of these persons was not good, and that such people are more vulnerable to high decibel sound,” Sakhalkar said. He further said that the police should strictly enforce noise limits, and take strict action against those who had violated noise pollution norms to prevent such incidents from occurring in future.
Basavraj Teli, SP, Sangli district, said, “Yes, it is true that the health of these two men (now deceased) had deteriorated and they were exposed to high decibel sound for some time. But even then, we cannot conclude that they died due to high decibel sound.” Teli said that one died of heart attack while in the second case, the viscera had been preserved for further investigation.
Dr Meenakshi Deshpande, former president, Indian Medical Association (IMA) Pune, said that if a person with a history of heart surgery is exposed to high decibel sound, the same may be responsible for heart failure. “In any case, high decibel sound affects the health and behaviour of people in a number of ways. If people facing health issues are exposed to high decibel sound, chances of health damage increase manifold,” Dr Deshpande said.
Dr Deshpande further said that even short, sharp and loud noises can cause hearing problems and damage can happen more quickly. Elaborating on the long-term impact, she said that long-term effects such as hypertension, hearing loss, sleep disturbance, high stress level, physical trauma, bleeding around the brain, and several other complications are very much possible due to loudspeaker systems with high decibel sound.
