Mumbai: State ban on volume for Ganpati, but DJs still play it loud

If you've been thanking Lord Ganesha for the much-reduced noise pollution during this year's festivities, spare some appreciation for the Mumbai police too, for their crack down on processions using DJ and Dolby sound systems. Despite the ban on sound systems though, mid-day found several mandals flouting the rule.

This is the first year of a blanket ban on the use of sound systems during festive processions. The Bombay High Court is currently hearing petitions against the ban, and is expected to issue its verdict today. Meanwhile, on Wednesday (seventh day, and one of the busiest visarjan days) mid-day went on a test drive in the city to see how many mandals followed the new ban.

Our reporters found quite a few mandals flouting the rules . Shockingly, even the police turned a blind eye to these violations, claiming that they were unaware of the ban. Even in areas where loudspeakers were absent, unfortunately, dhol pathaks and instrumental bands kept the volume high.

Western region: Juhu Chowpatty
Juhu Chowpatty, a major point of immersion in the western suburbs, was mainly free of DJ systems, although dhol pathaks and instrumental bands were in plenty. However, around 8.30 pm, a Ganpati mandal from Indra Nagar, Juhu Koliwada, arrived with loudspeakers mounted on Bappa's chariot. It took the mandal nearly two hours to cover the 400 metres to the immersion point, and the sound system was on full blast the entire time. Cops present at the site said only: "Court has banned the use of DJ and Dolby system, but if someone is playing instruments, we can't stop them."

Between 9 and 10 pm on Wednesday, students of Atharva Engineering College in Kandivli blasted music on sound systems during visarjan

Northern region: Kandivli
Around 9 pm, 300 to 400 students of Atharva Engineering College began a procession to bid adieu to their Bappa. The students blared music from a sound system for an hour, as the procession went from the pandal to the college gate. Finally, complaints reached DCP (Zone X) Sangramsingh Nishandar, who immediately asked the Malvani police to intervene. The loudspeakers were switched off, but it is unclear what action was taken against the organisers.

Mulund cops turned a blind eye to a procession blaring music from loudspeakers barely 100 metres from the police chowky

Eastern region: Mulund
In Mulund East, cops paid no mind even as a local mandal turned the volume up on their speakers barely 100 metres from the police chowky near Hindustan Chowk. "The music played beyond the 10 pm time limit. When we complained to the cops sitting outside the chowky, they turned a deaf ear," said a resident. One of the cops told mid-day, "We don't know about the court orders, neither do we have any orders from our superiors about a ban." Mulund Lake also witnessed noise pollution due to processions with loudspeakers.

Central region: Dadar Chowpatty
Worli jetty and Dadar Chowpatty are major points of Ganpati immersion in the Central region of the city. Fortunately, none of the processions featured a DJ system.
There were mostly household processions, and very few sarvajanik mandals passing through the area. "We maintained checks at every point to ensure that no speakers are used, so you won't see any noise pollution."

The officer added, "In residential areas and silence zones, we have asked our cops to stop processions from playing even traditional instruments untill they pass through the area."

Southern region: Girgaum Chowpatty
In the south, we found only one procession with a DJ system passing by the Metro junction around 7 pm. But as soon as the cops on bandobast duty noticed it, they immediately asked the mandal to shut it down.

An officer told mid-day, "We had a meeting with all the Ganpati mandals and told them not to invite DJ system vendors for their procession. We also issued the same message to every household through the Police Mitra network, so that violations could be averted." However, loud orchestra music and dhol pathaks continued to haunt residents. "We thank the government for banning DJ systems, but these instruments are equally noisy. We don't know what they will do about this," said another police officer.

About the ban
The ban was ordered by the state government. This is the first year of the ban. The state invoked Section 4 of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, while issuing the ban. As per the rules, violators will be issued with a notice and will directly be charge-sheeted. However, there will be no arrest at the time. The court will decide the penalty. An HC verdict on the matter is expected today.

10pm Time limit on instrumental bands
45db Noise limit at night in residential areas
40db Noise limit at night in silence zones

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