PIL filed against noise pollution during festivals, weddings in MP; HC seeks replies from Centre, state

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the Centre and the state on a PIL seeking direction to the respondents to take immediate action to control “noise pollution during festivals and weddings” in MP.

A division bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Vinay Saraf on Wednesday issued the notices to the Union government and the state’s pollution control board seeking their replies on the public interest litigation (PIL) in four weeks.

The petition has been filed by several people, including the ex-vice chancellor of Jabalpur-based Nanaji Deshmukh University of Veterinary Sciences Dr Govind Prasad Mishra, retired chief conservator of forest R P Shrivastava, former executive engineer (irrigation department) KP Reja and retired assistant geologist Y N Gupta.

The petitioners have urged the HC to direct the respondents to take urgent measures to curb noise pollution in Madhya Pradesh, their counsel Aditya Sanghi told PTI.

Sanghi said Dr Mishra is 82, while Shrivastava is 100 years old. At this age, they cannot move from their present residential areas to any other location to escape from noise pollution, he said.

The decibel level is so high that even window glasses vibrate and nobody can sleep peacefully, particularly during festivals and weddings, Sanghi told the court.

As per central rules, 75 dB (decibel) is the highest permissible limit during daytime. It is 45 dB in residential areas and 40 dB in silence zones at night, he said.

The Indian Medical Association says that anything above 80 dB can impair hearing, the petitioners’ counsel submitted.

He contended that the petitioners approached the HC after the authorities did not resolve their grievances.