Cops book mandals every year for flouting noise limit, but nobody punished so far
Cops book mandals every year for flouting noise limit, but nobody punished so far
There are cases against 450 Ganapati mandals for flouting noise norms that were filed up to four years ago, but these are still pending and nobody has been punished or fined so far. These cases were filed as per the norms set by the Supreme Court that said the loudspeaker noise limit should be 80 dB late in the evening. Between 30 and 50 Ganapati mandals are found flouting the noise norms every year, leading to police filing cases against them under Sections 3, 5 and 7 of the Environmental Proctection Act. 
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The cases are filed under provisions of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Revised Rules 2000 issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) vide notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
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"Hearings in the cases take place in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class in Shivajinagar, but these have remained pending for four years," said Advocate Pratap Pardeshi, who fights many of these cases every year. "Vijay Mitra Mandal, Jaishankar Mandal, Hind Mata Tarun Mandal, Mehunpura Mandal and Twasta Kasar Mandal are some of the groups involved."u00a0
According to Pardeshi, bogus cases have been filed by the police against the mandals, including Twasta Kasar and Mehunpura, who did not even use loudspeakers. Vinayak Ghate, a senior activist in Ganeshotsav, said that these cases were filed by the respective police stations and later the charge-sheet was file in the JMFC court, where the hearing takes place at eight different courts in the complex.
The court issues summons in the name of the president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer of the Ganapati mandal to attend these cases. "Many Ganapati mandal workers have developed a phobia towards becoming president as these charges are treated under criminal cases. Till date no Ganapati mandal has been fined or anybody undergone punishment of imprisonment," he said. Police Inspector Arjun Sakunde of the Vishrambaug police station said: "It is our duty to check the noise level directives given by CPCB. We generally file four to five cases every year."
The Noise limit
The permissible level of noise in the festival is 75 decibels to 90 decibels (till 10 pm). The state government grants permission for three days for the use of loudspeakers till midnight during the Ganeshotsav in the city.
Awards for following norms
The Anubandh Seva Trust has awards for Ganpati mandal activists who follow environmental norms. The winners are listed below:
> Dilip Raut, president of Heerabaug Mitra Mandal Trust, Tilak Road
> Mandar Ranjekar, Rashtriya Kala Trust
> Rajendra Shinde, Maharashtra Tarun Mandal Trust, Budhwar Peth
> Vikas Pawar, Tulshibaug Sarvajanik Ganpati Mandal Utsav
> Sameer Karpe, Digvijay Mitra Mandal, Sadashiv Peth
> Dilip Giramkar, Hinda Tarun Mandal, Camp
> Naresh Pagdallu, Anand Mitra Mandal, Kasewadi
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