State is silent on silent zones

Govt had assured that it will ‘soon’ notify new zones but has done nothing in the matter

Nearly a year after de-notifying more than 1,000 ‘silence zones’ in the city, the issue is nagging the Maharashtra government once again. The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sought to know from the government if it has notified new silence zones across Mumbai, yet.

A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Riyaz Chagla also asked the government to submit the list of new silence zones, so that it can pass a detailed order, especially in view of the forthcoming festive season.

This comes after the Union government in August last year de-notified all the 1,537 silence zones of the city, following an order passed by a bench headed by Justice Oka directing the government to strictly implement Noise Pollution Rules 2000 in these zones. The bench had declared areas around hospitals, schools, colleges, courts, etcetera as silence zones.

Having brought in the modifications, the government had then assured the court of ‘soon’ notifying new silence zones. However, till date, it has not furnished a single detail on this aspect.Taking note of this, Justice Oka on Wednesday said, “Since there has been no word on this issue from the government, it seems like till date nothing has been done. We thus want to know which areas are to be declared as silence zones, so that we can pass orders asking authorities to strictly implement the Noise Pollution

Rules, especially during the festive season.”

“Let the government submit a list of such zones along with the list of festivals and their dates. We will accordingly direct authorities to ensure strict implementation of the rules and if there is any single breach, then we will initiate stern contempt action against such officials,” Justice Oka added. The bench has accordingly posted the matter for further hearing on August 17.