LET ME SLEEP…STOP MUSIC
Noise pollution caused by loud speaker is the most alarming fact in
today’s urban life. After a tiring working day when people think of taking rest or else students try to concentrate on their study, the loudspeaker then becomes a proper nuisance to human life. Very often it is seen that by the name of rituals to worshiping God people needlessly play ‘Bhajan’ or any spiritual song. Most of the times, being a God fearer people do not even say a word to it.
From the year 2000, Supreme Court has passed the bill for establishing noise pollution control and regulation rules. According to it, from 10p.m. to 6a.m. loudspeaker is banned. Supreme Court has maintained this rule very strictly. As a result of it ‘Ramleela’ and ‘Durga Puja’ like festivals have also been suffered.
Noise by definition is unwanted sound. What is plesant to some ears may be extremely unpleasant to other, depending on a number of psychological factors. Noise not only causes irritation or annoyance but also constricts the arteries, and increases the flow of adrenaline and forces the heart to work faster. WHO has fixed 45 decibels as the safe noise level for a city, though the four metropolitan cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, usually registered an average more than 90 decibels, while Mumbai is rated as the third noisiest city in the world. Various laws have come to an act due to this noise pollution:
i) The Railways Act, 1890
ii) The Motor Vehicles Act, 1939
iii) The Aircrafts Act, 1934
iv) The Factories Act, 1948
The Indian Constitution under Article 19 grants fundamental right to every citizen to freedom of speech and
expression, with reasonable
restriction of decency, morality, security of State, defamation, incitement of offence etc. The use of loudspeaker as a means of expression is regulated by reasonable restriction so as to meet public order and safety.
After considering all the fact it is to hereby state that Government and Law can only produce restriction, but we, being a rational and responsible citizen, need to take necessary step on war footing to control this annoyance. It is not undesirable to play music for any festival or any occasion but it is indeed an offence to create noise and make the environment polluted out of it.