Uttarakhand court sets 5-decibel limit for loudspeakers; your breathing is louder

Uttarakhand high court says even temples, mosques and gurudwaras in Uttarakhand can’t use loudspeakers without a written undertaking.

Updated on: Jun 26, 2018, 23:28:15 IST

Hindustan Times, Nainital | By Neeraj Santoshi

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Loudspeakers will virtually fall silent in Uttarakhand, thanks to the state high court.

Uttarakhand High Court directed the state government to ensure that no loudspeaker or public address system is used by any person or organisation, including religious bodies, without the written permission of the relevant authorities. (AFP File Photo/For Representation)

In an order issued on Tuesday, the court told the government that the use of loudspeakers, even during day, will be contingent on the user giving an undertaking that the noise level will not exceed five decibels. The noise level of a pin falling on the ground is ten decibels. So is a person breathing.

The court directed the state government to ensure that no loudspeaker or public address system is used by any person or organisation, including religious bodies, without the written permission of the relevant authorities.

“The loudspeakers keep on blaring even beyond 12 midnight. The loudspeaker cannot be permitted to be used without the written permission from the authority even by the temples, mosques and Gurudwaras,” the court said.

The direction was issued by a division bench of justices Rajiv Sharma and Lok Pal Singh while hearing a public interest litigation seeking action against a toy factory in Haridwar district.

The court also slapped a penalty of ₹5 crore on an industrial unit in Haridwar as “exemplary damages to the inhabitants of the area for causing large scale air pollution and water pollution under the ‘polluter pays’ principle”.

The court has ordered ₹5 crore be deposited with the Haridwar district magistrate within four weeks. It also said the owner of the factory should not run it without obtaining a permanent no-objection certificate from the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board.

The order was issued on June 19 but its copy was made available on Tuesday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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