3,000 Loudspeakers Removed from Religious Places

UP Takes Action Against Noise Pollution...

The Uttar Pradesh police have undertaken a statewide campaign to enforce compliance with an Allahabad High Court order on noise pollution from public address systems. Since November 23, they have removed 3,238 loudspeakers from religious places of various faiths in the effort.

Additionally, the police have instructed the reduction of volume for 7,288 loudspeakers that were installed with proper permission, yet exceeded the permissible decibel limits.

A single FIR was filed in both the Agra Commissionerate and Pratapgarh, while in Gautam Buddha Nagar, 21 individuals were fined for failing to lower their decibel levels.

As part of the campaign initiated on November 23 and set to run until December 22, two FIRs have been registered so far.

In the past four days, the authorities have inspected over 61,399 religious places as part of the ongoing drive.

Prashant Kumar, Special Director General of Law and Order, stated that police officers have been instructed to visit religious places between 5 pm and 7 pm until December 22.

The police dossier reveals that the Gorakhpur zone saw the removal of the highest number of loudspeakers (698), whereas Bareilly witnessed the reduction in volume for the most loudspeakers (1,975). In terms of police commission rates, Lucknow had the highest count of removed loudspeakers (538).

Ambedkarnagar took the lead among districts with the removal of the maximum number of loudspeakers (283), closely followed by Bahraich (195).

The SDG (Law and Order) stated, "Notices have been issued to over a hundred places of religious significance, where caretakers did not adhere to norms despite repeated police requests."

The officer emphasized that no individual or community would face harassment under the guise of loudspeaker adjustments. He assured, "We are keeping a daily compliance report of the actions taken. The initiative follows complaints of noise pollution, addressing areas where compliance has been lacking in the past."

He added, "District police chiefs and I have directed to provide a daily compliance report to the headquarters."