Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday warned of strict action against places of worship for violating noise limits of loudspeakers. The permissible level is 55 decibels during day time and 45 decibels during the evening hours.
Fadnavis said the local inspector of police has been entrusted with the responsibility of executing this order, if they fail in their duty, action will be taken against them as well.
Fadnavis told the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly that as per Supreme Court guidelines, at any places of worship, it is mandatory to obtain permission from competent authority before installing and using loudspeakers. He said as per the prevailing norms, the loudspeakers should not be used between 10.00 pm to 6.00 am.
“During the day between 10.00 am to 10.00 pm, the maximum 55 decibels sound of loudspeakers is permitted while at night, it should be only 45 decibels. If this prevailing decibel norm is violated then Maharashtra pollution control board (MPCB) has to take cognizance and inform the police to take further action by filing the report. However, these prevailing norms are not followed judiciously therefore we are issuing new guidelines for the loudspeakers,” Fadnavis said.
He further said henceforth, blanket permissions will not be granted for the use of loudspeakers in places of worship.
“The permission for loudspeakers will be given for the stipulated time period only. If places of worship want further permissions, then they have to again seek permission of the police and the MPCB," the CM said.
Devyani Fharande, the BJP MLA raised the issue of mushrooming of illegal loudspeakers at religious and places of worship. She informed the House that on April 17, 2022, the former police commissioner of Nasik Deepak Pande had written to the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for a ban on loudspeakers, but no action was taken over it.