Mumbai
The noise level around the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) head office often goes up to a high of 79 dB. Near King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEM), it touches 68 dB. The prescribed daytime norm is not more than 65 dB for a commercial area like the BMC, and 50 dB for a silent zone like a hospital.
In 1985, the Anti Noise Pollution Committee (anpc), an association of medical consultants and other organizations concerned about noise pollution, filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court.
An extensive study was subsequently carried out on the extent of noise pollution in Mumbai city. The study conclusively revealed that noise levels clearly surpassed the standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). But even this failed to prod authorities into taking remedial action.
Instead, more shockingly, "in 1994, the government of Maharashtra actually went ahead and upped the limit for use of loud speakers from 11.00 to 11.30 pm,' laments Y T Oke, secretary, ANPC. "It even gave discretionary powers to police commissioners to extend the limit beyond 11.30 pm,' he adds.
The coalition once again filed a case in the high court in 1995, this time contending that the rules prepared by the Maharashtra government were contradictory to those prepared under the epa of 1986. The high court directed the state government to bring all rules in conformity with the epa.
However, authorities blatantly extended the time limit for use of loudspeakers for dandia, (a Gujarati dance during Navratra, or the nine nights before Dasera) to 1.00 am in 1996. The anpc contempt petition is still pending in court.
Incidentally, "the average age of deafness has gone down from 70 years to 50 years,' says Pratibha Belwalker of the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, a voluntary agency working for noise regulation in the city.
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