'No silence zone in Maharashtra', Bombay High court told ahead of Ganapati festival

The affidavit comes days ahead of Ganapati festival.

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday declared that there were no silence zones in the state. Days ahead of the Ganapati festival, the state government has demolished the single most powerful weapon of anti-noise pollution activists.

In its affidavit to the Bombay High Court, the state government has said that the amendments made by the union government to noise rules now state that no zone is a silence zone unless notified as such by the state government. The amendment to the rule was made on Maharashtra's request ahead of the Ganapati festival.

Every year, activists protest against noise pollution in silence zones. Days ahead of the festival that is celebrated with much fervour across the state, the Maharashtra government told the court that the new rules now do not deem any place including those near hospitals, courts, schools and religious institutions as 'silence zones'.

The earlier rules deemed 100 mts around any hospital, school, court etc as silence zones. Now the state government has been given the authority to decide what constitutes a silence zone and what doesn't.

In its affidavit to the Bombay High Court, the government attached the copy of the notification indicating the amendment to noise rules. The amendment has come into effect from August 10 and the state government has so far not declared any zone as silence zone. While the cap on noise pollution levels remains the same, this new rule will allow setting up of loud speakers indiscriminately.

Further, the new rules now allow district authorities to decide on permissions for loudspeakers post 10 PM. The authority so far lays with the state government. NGOs like Awaz Foundation that fight against noise pollution were taken aback by the amendment and have sought time to read and understand the same before planning their next move.

This is the second consecutive victory for the Maharashtra government that had successfully won a legal battle to remove the restriction on Dahi Handi heights.

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