803 MOSQUES IN MUMBAI GRANTED PERMISSION TO USE LOUDSPEAKER

MUMBAI: Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey on Tuesday said that the police have received applications from 1,144 mosques across the city and permissions are granted to 803 mosques to use loudspeakers.

The police have also directed while giving permission that the mosques follow the Apex court and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) guidelines on the use of loudspeakers.

This is for the first time that so many mosques have applied to the police for permission to use loudspeakers for reciting azaan. The applications started coming to Mumbai police in the past two weeks, especially after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray raked up the issue and called upon the state government to pull down loudspeakers atop mosques across the state.

“We have been verifying the credentials of the applicants, his purpose and intention behind using the loudspeakers,” said a police officer. and added that they have granted permission to 803 mosques and other applications are under consideration. Recently, the Mumbai police conducted a survey of mosques across the city and found that 72% of mosques had stopped using loudspeakers for morning prayers (Azaan) and diligently followed the noise pollution rules. Mumbai police had already held meetings with all community leaders looking at the festivals and conveyed the sensitivity of various issues including the use of loudspeakers and noise levels. As per noise pollution rules, the permissible noise level for residential zones is 55 decibels, for commercial zones 65 decibels, and for Industrial zones 75 decibels.