HC directs State to provide decibel meters to cops to check noise pollution
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Nainital
The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the State government to provide decibel meters to the police to enable them to check noise pollution.The division bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Subhash Upadhyaya gave this direction while hearing the public interest litigation filed by Nainital resident Atri Adhikari. The petitioner had stated that various hotels, resorts and other institutions in Nainital city generate noise pollution in blatant violation of the law, with many such units not even securing permission to use sound systems.
It was further stated that the Uttarakhand HC has also given detailed orders in the past regarding noise pollution but these are not being followed. The State government has marked silent, residential, industrial and commercial zones and there are different noise pollution standards for each of these zones.
The PIL also stated that the police do not even have decibel meters to check the level of noise pollution. This is the reason why the police are unable to take action against those violating the noise pollution rules. After hearing the matter, the court directed the Urban Development secretary and Home secretary to provide decibel meters to the police in the State within eight weeks. The court also directed the secretary to submit an affidavit to present a compliance report to the court by the date of the next hearing.
It is pertinent to mention here that noise pollution is a major problem across the State which the government has largely failed to address. Blatant violation of the law is a routine feature when it comes to noise pollution but limited action is taken to address this issue.
