HC order will force cops to wake up to noise pollution 
By Swati Deshpande/TNN    24 Apr 05

Mumbai: There are 166 noise-level meters along with printers and calibrators, each recently purchased at the rate of Rs 1,11,160, with various police commissionerates and superintendents in the state as well as the city. Most of them may not even be out of their wrapping plastic. 
But thanks to a Sangli resident, the Mumbai police may finally be forced to wake up to the harsh honking and amplified cacophony that break all noise-control norms. This follows a Bombay high court order directing the deputy police commissioners of each of the 13 zones in Mumbai to monitor noise levels and to take action against violators. The court also directed the state government to train police officers so that they are able to implement the provisions of the Act and the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 effectively. 
Similarly, for rural areas, the court directed the superintendent of police to ensure the maintenance of permissible noise level. 
“The Director General of Police is directed to ensure the compliance of our directions meticulously. We direct him to periodically get the information that these provisions are effectively implemented and he would also be at liberty to take appropriate action against the officers who are not complying with these provisions strictly,’’ a bench comprising Chief Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice S A Bobde said. 
A public interest litigation filed by Anil Tade and others was essentially to get the Sangli police to enforce the noise pollution rules in other cities of Maharashtra. 
A PIL filed by Mumbai activists had earlier resulted in the HC passing several orders dealing with high decibels, resulting in the formation of silence zones and loudspeaker deadlines during festivals. 

The situation in Mumbai 


• Currently the deputy police commissioners at the 13 zonal police offices in Mumbai have one noise monitoring level meter each. 

• Five portable decibel meters are lying at the offices of the additional commissioners of police in different regions in Mumbai. All the meters are without printers. 

• The only meter with the printer attached is at the Zone I office in South Mumbai. 

• The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has also provided one meter with printer to the additional police commissioner, South Region, Mumbai. 

• The Mumbai police chief has pointed out that each police station will have to be provided with at least one meter along with printer for measuring decibel levels. 

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