Navi Mumbai Police have asked public Ganeshotsav mandals to avoid DJs and laser lights during the festival and warned that organisers and DJ operators who violate noise-control rules will face action under the law. The instructions were issued on Friday, September 4, ahead of processions and immersion events across Navi Mumbai and the Panvel area.
Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe said loudspeakers exceeding prescribed noise limits would not be permitted. Police stations across Navi Mumbai have been instructed to communicate the rules to public Ganeshotsav mandals and explain the applicable noise-pollution requirements when granting permission to use loudspeakers.
Deputy Commissioner of Police for Zone 3, Rashmi Nandedkar, directed station house officers to inform mandal representatives about the regulations. Police personnel are also contacting organisers directly and asking them to avoid DJs and laser lights during festival programmes.
The restrictions are particularly relevant to the Panvel area, where a large number of Ganesh idols are installed and where arrival and immersion processions may involve high-volume sound systems. Police said loud DJ systems could cause difficulties for senior citizens, children and patients, and appealed to organisers to use traditional musical instruments instead.
The police have also cited aviation safety concerns linked to laser lights. The Panvel area is adjacent to the Navi Mumbai International Airport, where aircraft movements take place around the clock. A laser beam directed towards an aircraft during take-off or landing can obstruct a pilot’s vision, according to the police warning.
The advisory follows complaints from two pilots in February, who reported being affected by laser lights before landing on the airport runway. In view of that incident, police have asked organisers to avoid laser use during Ganeshotsav processions and other events in the area.
Bharambe said the police had appealed to Ganeshotsav mandals to avoid DJs and laser lights and would take action under the law if the instructions were breached. He also said Navi Mumbai Police would act according to legal provisions and would not permit any sound-amplification system that exceeds the prescribed limits.
The instructions apply as public mandals seek permissions for loudspeaker use and prepare for festival processions and immersion events in Navi Mumbai and Panvel. Police station authorities have been directed to communicate the noise-pollution rules as part of that permission process.
