Thousands of Loudspeakers removed from Religious Places in UP

Insight Bureau: As per Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s orders, the Uttar Pradesh government has apparently removed 10,923 loudspeakers from religious places all throughout the state.

Alongside that volume levels of another 35,221 speakers have been reported to be regulated to ‘permissible limits’.

The Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Prashant Kumar told, “A statewide drive is being undertaken to remove unauthorized loudspeakers from religious places and set the volume of others within permissible limits.”

He added that “loudspeakers are being removed from all religious places without any discrimination.”

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of Uttar Pradesh, Awanish Kumar Awasthi mentioned that the government has asked the administration comply with a 2018 order issued by the government setting decibel limits.

The home department has solicited a compliance report by April 30 from the district’s administration over the removal of loudspeakers at religious places. Norms under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, have also been asked to be issued in public interest.

In a review meeting with senior officials on law and order, Adityanath mentioned that the usage of microphone should not cause any discomfort to people outside of the premises. If the sound remains within, there is no problem in using the loudspeakers. This meeting was followed by the call for banning the loudspeakers.

This comes after the political row seen in Maharashtra with regards to loudspeakers outside of mosques. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray demanded them to be removed by May 3 or Hanuman Chalisa will be played at higher volumes outside mosques, he added

The decision in Uttar Pradesh has been seen to be accepted by all community leaders in a peaceful manner.