BHOPAL: The deafening noise from loudspeakers, DJs and public events in Indore has drawn sharp observations from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, with two judges stating that they personally experienced excessive noise while returning home from court.
Hearing a 2023 public interest litigation (PIL) concerning unchecked noise pollution in Indore, the Indore bench of the MP High Court, comprising Justices Subodh Abhyankar and Jai Kumar Pillai, stated the situation on the ground appeared far worse than what was reflected in the authorities’ reports.
The judges, in a two-page order passed on Friday, said that although they were initially inclined to dispose of the petition after hearing the arguments, their own experience of the city’s noise levels prompted them to take a closer look.
“Although we’ve heard the learned counsel for the rival parties at length and were inclined to dispose of this petition, however, as it transpired in the night that so many loud noises were coming from almost all the directions,” the bench observed.
The judges said that even while commuting from the court to their homes, they found several places where “the loudspeakers were blasting away all the limits of sound barriers”.
The bench also referred to the reported death of a seven-year-old Class II student in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly after she was exposed to high-volume sound from speakers during a religious procession carrying a Ganesh idol for immersion.
“Apart from that, in yesterday’s morning newspaper, we found that a child aged 7 years has died in the school... on account of high pitch volume coming from the speakers,” the court noted.
Expressing displeasure over the authorities’ handling of noise pollution, the bench said that the actual situation appeared “rather grim” despite detailed replies filed by the state and other respondents claiming that measures were being taken to control the problem.
The court directed state and police authorities to strictly enforce the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, and the Madhya Pradesh Kolahal Niyantran Adhiniyam, 1985. It also ordered that appropriate action be taken against those found violating the prescribed norms.
The court further directed the authorities to publish a list of designated silence zones in daily newspapers. It said the list should also identify other prominent locations that may qualify as silence zones and were not included in the list submitted before the court.
The administration was also asked to publicise telephone numbers and other contact details through which residents can lodge complaints about noise pollution.
The court has sought a fresh compliance report within a week and posted the matter for October 5.
The PIL, filed in 2023 by advocate Amitabh Upadhyay and social activist Chinmay Mishra, has raised concerns over noise generated by loudspeakers, DJs, religious programmes, processions, weddings and other public events in Indore. The petition has specifically sought a ban on DJ vehicles, arguing that excessive noise violates citizens’ right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, including the right to peaceful sleep.
