UP: Gonda residents file complaint against police sirens, seek night ban

They complained of loud sirens from motorcycles every hour at night and added they disturb their sleep. Police find their demand for a night ban unwarranted

The police’s ubiquitous vans and patrol bikes may have increased their presence and reduced response time, but have also flooded them with complaints about the misuse of sirens, said people familiar with the matter.

Representational Image. (File photo)

“Many people [have complained about] the sirens blaring intermittently throughout the night and disturbing their sleep and causing stress. [Police personnel] in vans and on bikes can often be seen honking sirens not to deal with any law-and-order urgency, but to chase roadside vendors away...this causes avoidable irritation...” said one of the people cited above.

Residents of Gonda, around 120 km from Lucknow, have filed a complaint demanding a ban on sirens at night. They complained of loud sirens from motorcycles every hour at night and added they disturb their sleep. The complainants cited a Supreme Court order banning sirens in residential localities between 10pm and 6am, provided there is no emergency.

“You are, therefore, requested to direct the in charge of the Sadbhavana chowki not to play the siren from 10 in the night to 6 in the morning,” the complaint said.

Gonda police superintendent Shailesh Pandey said they received the complaint but found the demand unwarranted. He added using sirens is an old practice and an essential part of their duty. Pandey said sirens are within the permissible limits of sound. “Sirens at night instill a sense of security among people besides often scaring anti-social elements away.”

Alok Roy, another police officer, said sirens were being used is on the outskirts of the city that are prone to criminal incidents, especially during winter.

Police chief HC Awasthi said they will look at the wider perspective and not go by anybody’s liking or disliking. “Maintaining law and order, as well as prevention and detection of crime, are police’s primary duty. If anything is necessary for these, then it has to be done.” Awasthi said traffic diversions trouble some people, but they are done for a wider public cause.

Former police chief Sulkhan Singh said the residents’ demand is justified. “Using the horn unnecessarily is an offense. ...use of sirens is permitted only when a police vehicle or an ambulance is rushing to attend an emergency. Sirens cannot be used if roads are clear or when the police are moving in the normal course.”

Additional transport commissioner Arvind Kumar Pandey said police vehicles can use sirens as may be approved by the registering authority. “However, in practice, no such approvals are sought.”