Pune: The National Green Tribunal 's western zonal bench in Pune on Wednesday directed notices to be issued to the district collector and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), asking the authorities to apprise it about the measures taken to control noise pollution during Ganeshotsav . The two authorities must file their reports by Aug 28 when the matter would be heard next. The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Vijay Kukarni was hearing an application filed by audiologist Kalyani Mandke seeking various directions to curb noise pollution during the festival.
It directed Mandke to implead the Pune police commissioner as one of the respondents in the matter as the police chief is the executing authority of orders to curb noise pollution. Mandke's application highlighted the problems caused by noise pollution during the festival between 2018 and 2023. The bench said, "We recollect that in the past also, several petitions had been filed in this regard before this tribunal and orders had also been passed therein regarding control of noise pollution.
The details are not found to have been mentioned in the present original application. Therefore, we direct the applicant to implead the Police Commissioner, Pune as respondent No 5 in the present original application." Mandke sought the tribunal's directives to authorities to implement adequate noise control and monitoring measures during the festival to mitigate noise pollution, including implementation of the Central Pollution Control Board's compensation regime.
The regime involves levying environmental compensation on entities violating pollution norms. Mandke has also asked the bench to direct the collector not to issue permission for more than one pair of loudspeaker systems per Ganesh mandal or devotee group and not to issue permission or cancel permission for established violators of Noise Rules, 2000, which she has asked the Pune Municipal Corporation to do as well. She urged that MPCB be directed to release noise monitoring data collected and compiled during the Ganeshotsavs from 2021 to 2023.
"Police just announce that they will monitor, but they don't. They should be taking directives on how many sound speakers must be given as per pandal size. Speakers should be spread out serially — one speaker for every 20ft is sufficient," Mandke told TOI.
"Bass speakers are put at full volume, which is very loud, and it needs to be controlled. Density of population and traffic, noise level is already high. Sound levels have increased 100 decibels last year.
Three units of dhol tasha each consisting of 50 dhol per mandal will be permitted, which is too high, increasing the pollution. There are a lot of ways to celebrate, we need to monitor the noise levels. We know the side effects, time has come for authorities to give directives.
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