The SC should fix accountability for noise pollution in States

A news report last year about ill effects of noise pollution said that a poultry farmer in Odisha’s Balasore district reported more than 60 broiler chickens in his farm dying due to heart attacks. That was caused by loud music coming from a bridegroom party that came to his village. According to the report, Ranjit Parida, the farmer, said that the bridegroom's wedding procession came to his village around 11 pm on the day of the incident and started playing loud music and also burst loud firecrackers.

The farmer requested people in the marriage procession to lower the volume but they were all drunk. Terrified chickens in his farm started running around in fear and an hour later Parida found 63 chickens dead, according to the news report.

When the aggrieved farmer consulted with a local veterinarian, he said that the loud noise had caused the birds to go into shock, killing them. It is reported that an FIR has been lodged with the local police.

We can’t ignore this as a stray incident, as all over the country, throughout the year, some noise pollution is allowed to exist and no one seems to bother the ill-effect on the health of human beings and other living creatures. Temple functions, marriage parties, political meetings, etc., are invariably organized with loud music through cone loudspeakers.

In July 2005, the Supreme Court banned the use of cone speakers after it was found that they produce very high decibels of sound compared to the box-shaped sound systems. But in any city one can see that many residents complain that the Pollution Control Board does not take any action against such users of cone speakers.

Now there is a fresh debate on the use of loudspeakers by places of worship in the country. In April this year, the Uttar Pradesh Home Department said that illegal loudspeakers will be removed from religious places across the state. It also said that loudspeakers flouting the noise limit standards will be removed. This was following the statement of the Chief Minister that loudspeakers can be used at religious places with permission but the sound must not come out of the premises. He also said that no new permits will be issued for loudspeakers.

In August 2016, the Bombay High Court ruled that the use of loudspeakers was not a fundamental right. The Bombay High Court observed that no religion or sect could claim that the right to use a loudspeaker or a public address system was a fundamental right conferred by Article 25 of the Constitution of India.

On June 26, 2018, the Uttarakhand High Court set a five-decibel limit for loudspeakers, but modified in July 2020 the order, limiting the noise level at five decibels calling it an “accidental error”.

In September 2018, the Karnataka High Court banned the use of loudspeakers after 10 pm. In July 2019, the Punjab and Haryana High Court banned the use of loudspeakers at public places, including religious bodies.

On May 15, 2020, the Allahabad High Court held that azaan could be recited by a muezzin from minarets of the mosques by human voice only without using any amplifying device or loudspeakers. On January 11, 2021, the Karnataka High Court directed the state government to act against illegal loudspeakers at religious places in the state.

The real issue is not absence of legal provision but absence of execution of the directions of various courts, including that of the Supreme Court.

(The author is a retired banker)