Ban on loudspeakers at religious places: Gautam Budh Nagar admin holds meet

Noida: Following directions from the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, Gautam Buddh Nagar district officials on Wednesday held meetings with committees of various religious places asking them to remove loud speakers and not to use them in the future without getting permission from the administration, said officials.

The state government, on Sunday, had imposed a ban on unauthorised usage of loudspeakers at religious as well as public spaces across the state.

The move comes after the Allahabad High Court ordered the removal of loudspeakers from religious places, in an attempt to curb the increasing noise pollution.

"The meetings were taken in order to create awareness among the people. The orders from High Court will be followed stringently. We have directed the officials of various religious places to take permission to install loudspeakers before January 15 else the government would start removing these from January 20.

"The move is aimed to curb the noise pollution," said Mahendra Kumar Singh, City Magistrate, Noida.

The high court had last month asked the state government whether the loudspeakers or public address systems at mosques, temples, churches and gurdwaras, among other places, were installed after obtaining a written permission from the authorities concerned.

"The permission can be taken after giving an application at the District Magistrate office seeking permission for playing the loudspeakers" added Singh.

According to officials, loudspeakers installed in public places cannot be louder than 10 decibels at the periphery of a public place and 5 decibels above the ambient noise level at the periphery of a private place.