Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday declared that severe action will be taken against unauthorized loudspeaker usage in religious institutions.
He was making this comment while responding to a discussion during a calling attention motion moved by BJP legislator Devayani Pharande and others.
Fadnavis insisted that, according to the guideline of the Supreme Court, advance permission is required before installing loudspeakers at religious places. He also reminded that loudspeakers should be kept switched off between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"The limit for permissible noise levels is 55 decibels in the day and 44 decibels at night between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Under central law, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board can take action on violations. Till now, it is the mandate of the law that the police should report cases to the Pollution Control Board but this process isn't being adopted properly," he said.
The Chief Minister also explained that in the future, loudspeakers would be permitted for a specific amount of time. "Once the allowed time elapses, if anyone wants to use loudspeakers again, they will need to take fresh permission from the police. In case of breach of noise norms, permission won't be provided again, and the loudspeakers will be confiscated. The responsibility of imposing strict compliance to these regulations would lie with the police inspector from every station," he added.
Fadnavis also directed police inspectors to go personally to places of worship to check if appropriate permission for using loudspeakers has been taken. "If the decibel level crosses the stipulated limit, the first thing to do is to inform the Pollution Control Board, and the second is to withhold future permissions," he said.
He admitted that as per the current law, the police do not have adequate powers in comparison to the Pollution Control Board to deal with such incidents. But he assured that the government is contemplating making changes in bolstering the rules and providing more effective action against illegal loudspeaker usage.
"The state government will urge the Centre to revise the regulations," he concluded.
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