HC seeks govt reply on NGO's plea claiming violation of noise pollution norms during Eid

The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought reply from the Maharashtra government after an NGO claimed that the city witnessed rampant violation of noise pollution norms during Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations last month.

A bench of Justices A S Oka and S K Shinde directed the state to file the reply within two weeks.

The court is hearing a bunch of petitions on violation of noise pollution norms during religious festivals in the city.

Awaaz Foundation, in an affidavit before the court, said that permissible noise limits were brazenly breached in areas such as Crawford Market, Byculla and Mazgaon.

According to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, residential and silence zones (areas where schools, hospitals and religious places are located) can have maximum noise levels between 55 and 50 decibels (dB) in the day and 45 and 40 dB at night.

The NGO claimed that noise levels in the areas mentioned in the affidavit were between 88 and 105.3 dB on November 21.