Pune-based noise pollution campaigner Vidyanand Bapat has said he plans to approach the courts after the Ganesh festival and seek an amendment to the law governing loudspeakers, arguing that restrictions should apply during the day as well as after 10 pm in open spaces.
Bapat told Loksatta that he also intends to seek the introduction of a Bill in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha to strengthen the legal framework against noise pollution. He said some elected representatives were in contact with him over the proposed legislative effort.
His comments came in an interview conducted on the eve of the Ganesh immersion procession. Bapat has gained attention for raising objections to noise pollution during festivals and said his campaign would continue after the festival rather than end with the procession.
Under the current arrangements referred to in the report, police have issued guidelines concerning sound systems and decibel levels during the festival. Bapat criticised those measures, describing them as an attempt to show that action had been taken without addressing the underlying problem.
“Four bass, four top and some decibels” had been included in the police guidelines, Bapat said, but he argued that these provisions did not offer a fundamental solution. He also said the guidelines would be difficult to implement and that even full implementation would not provide relief to residents.
Bapat specifically referred to residents in Pune’s peth areas, saying that some were leaving their homes because of the noise. The statement places the issue beyond a limited dispute over festival enforcement and focuses attention on how sound regulation is experienced in densely settled neighbourhoods.
His proposed legal action would seek both an amendment to the law and stricter implementation of its provisions. The report does not state that the petition has already been filed or that a Bill has been formally introduced in Parliament.
The next steps identified by Bapat are to pursue the court petition and work with legislators on the proposed amendment after the Ganesh festival.
