Villagers protest restricted use of loudspeakers at religious places

Mohali, December 25

The Mohali police were in a spot as hundreds of residents of Mullanpur, Ferozepur, Salamatpur, Parol and Bharonjian villages swarmed the Mullanpur Garibdas police station this morning, protesting against cops’ move to restrict the use of loudspeakers in local temples and gurdwaras. The irate residents said for the past some days, cops had been stopping them from using loudspeakers at religious places.

“The police enter gurdwaras using abusive language and turn off the loudspeakers. The decibel level is low, barely audible on the fringes of the villages. The village people, like others, are commemorating the martyrdom ‘Shahidi’ of Sahibzaade these days, but the police attitude is pathetic,” they complained outside the police station.

“It has been six days that vulgar songs are being played whole night at the biggest real estate project in Mullanpur, but no cop goes there to stop the use of loudspeakers,” they added.

DSP Kharar-2 Dharamvir Singh said, “The residents were counselled and informed about the recent High Court orders regarding noise pollution norms. Some of them were unaware, so they were given a copy of the orders. Police parties leave for field inspection at 4 am-4:30am to ensure compliance of the orders.”

Sources said the Mullanpur area was inhabited by judicial officers, bureaucrats and political community, keeping the police on alert mode.

The Mohali administration has constituted a committee comprising senior officials of the departments concerned at the district and subdivision level to keep a check on the violations. Orders under Section 144 of the IPC would be issued during the examinations of school students. Necessary permissions for the use of loudspeakers shall be monitored and issued as per permissible levels and zones, officials said.

What dist admn order says

No loudspeaker or public address system shall be used by any person, including religious bodies in temples, mosques and gurdwaras, without written permission of the authorities even during the daytime.

Loudspeakers, public address systems, musical instruments and sound amplifiers shall not be played during the night except in auditoriums, conference rooms, community halls and banquet halls.

Loudspeakers or public address systems shall not be used between 10 pm and 6 am, except between 10 pm and midnight during any cultural or religious festive occasion of a limited duration not exceeding 15 days in all during a calendar year. Even in that case, the noise level shall not exceed 10 dB above the ambient noise standards for the area.

Bias alleged

It has been six days that vulgar songs are being played whole night at the biggest real estate project in Mullanpur, but no cop goes there to stop the use of loudspeakers. — Villagers