CM for relaxation in noise norms

It is not the Shiv Sena alone that wants political rallies to be held in Shivaji Park, officially a silence zone, where the Bombay High Court has restricted the use of pubic address systems to prevent noise pollution.

It is not the Shiv Sena alone that wants political rallies to be held in Shivaji Park, officially a silence zone, where the Bombay High Court has restricted the use of pubic address systems to prevent noise pollution.

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Ashok Chavan, chief minister and Congressman, said on Tuesday that noise pollution control norms at the park needed to be relaxed for the benefit of all political parties.

Chavan assured Members of Parliament from all parties, who met him on Tuesday, that the government would try to get the silence zone norms relaxed for this historic ground. The government will have to move the high court, which has set up norms for this silence zone Dadar, for this.

The high court had allowed the Sena to hold its annual Dassehra rally at Shivaji Park on October 17 on the condition that the party limits the decibel levels during the rally to 50. The decibel levels recorded during the rally touched 100 following which the police filed a case against the Sena for breaching the court’s guidelines.

Union agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, who was present at the meeting, appealed to the MPs to garner public support for proposed power projects in the state. He said these projects were badly needed because of the power shortage in the state but opposition from locals had stalled them.

Pawar said the policy on eco-sensitive zones such as Konkan, where several power projects have been planned, needed to be debated at the Centre.