Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: Nearly 11,000 loudspeakers have been removed from religious places till Wednesday evening following Uttar Pradesh government’s directive,
As per the data released by the government, a total of 10,923 loudspeakers were uninstalled from various religious sites in the state and the volume of 35,221 loudspeakers was lowered as per the parameters.
The home department of the state removed loudspeakers from eight zones of the state, including Agra, Meerut, Bareilly, Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and four commissionerates -- Lucknow, Kanpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Varanasi.
Out of the total, the home department removed a maximum of 2,395 loudspeakers and lowered the volume of 7,397 loudspeakers from the religious places in the Lucknow zone, followed by the Gorakhpur and Varanasi zones.
On Wednesday, the home department asked the police to remove the loudspeakers and those flouting the noise limit standards at religious places across the state. The order to remove loudspeakers from religious places in the state was issued on April 24. A compliance report from the districts in this regard has been sought by April 30.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on April 21 directed that the loudspeakers at religious places should not play loud and the sound must be confined within the premises only.
He also said that the microphones should not be installed and that no new loudspeakers would be allowed at religious places.
The Supreme Court’s June 2005 order had banned the use of loudspeakers and music systems in public between 10.00pm and 6am (except in cases of public emergencies), citing the serious effects of noise pollution on the health of those residents who live in such areas.
Meanwhile, the government on Thursday appealed to religious leaders for their support and cooperation to uninstall loudspeakers and organise the celebrations of upcoming festivals peacefully.
Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department, Awanish Kumar Awasthi said: “It has been requested to all the religious leaders to provide all possible cooperation in order to successfully organise all our festivals. Our district administration and police officials have talked to about 30,000 to 40,000 religious leaders. We have received support. This work is in continuous progress.”
Cooperation
Awasthi said that the people and the religious leaders have been cooperative in removing the loudspeakers. This has given a good message to the society, he said, adding the department will ensure a balanced dialogue, in case of any difficulty in removing the loudspeakers.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray congratulated UP CM Yogi Adityanath for successfully conducting the drive to remove the loudspeakers from the religious places. While congratulating the Yogi government, he targetted the Maharashtra government and termed them “hedonists”.
He wrote, “I wholeheartedly congratulate and stand grateful to the Yogi government for having removed the loudspeakers from religious places, especially the masjids. Unfortunately, in Maharashtra, we don’t have any yogism, what we have are bhogis (hedonists). Here hoping and praying good sense prevails.
The Yogi government on Wednesday uninstalled a total of 10,923 loudspeakers from various religious sites in the state and lowered the volume of 35,221 loudspeakers as per the parameters till 4.00 pm.
The order to remove loudspeakers from religious places in the state was issued on April 24.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on April 21 directed that the loudspeakers at religious places should not play loud and the sound must be confined to the premises only. He also said that the microphones should not be installed and that no new loudspeakers would be allowed at religious places.
