Noise pollution: 202 cases registered against mandals

MUMBAI: In the light of the Bombay High Court's interim order of the ban on DJs and Dolby system during Ganeshotsav and Navratri festivals, Mumbai police have registered 202 cases of violations of noise pollution and booked over 103 Ganpati mandals after they were found to have DJs who played songs on loudspeakers. DCP (Operations) and Mumbai Police spokesperson Manjunath Singe said police would take action against the Ganpati mandals and conduct an investigation. Singe said, "Ganeshotsav was celebrated peacefully, with no major untoward incidents taking place. However, from September 13-23, over 202 cases were registered at various police stations in the city against mandals which have violated the noise level limits. Police will be looking into those cases and all police stations will be investigating." The DJ systems and the noise of musical instruments reaches up to 100 decibels (dB) and in order to control noise pollution, the court had taken a firm stand and imposed a ban on loudspeakers and DJs. Permissible noise levels during daytime (6am to 9pm) in residential area is 55db while that at night time (9 pm to 6 am) is 45 dB. Despite police instructions to keep noise levels under control since the Bombay High Court order, levels continued to exceed those recorded in 2017, ranging from 87dB to 107dB at various parts of the city. The highest, 112.6dB was recorded in Worli Naka on the 5th day of visarjan.

- Staff Reporter