Sena in trouble for 'loud' Dussehra rally

Oct 18, 2010 |

IANS

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Mumbai: A day after the Shiv Sena held its Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park, the Mumbai police on Monday registered a case against party officials for violating court norms by exceeding the noise level limit.

"We have lodged a case against Shiv Sena activist Diwakar Borkar who had sought permission from us subject to guidelines of the Bombay High Court," an official from Shivaji Park Police Station said on Monday.

Though the official declined to specify the sections under which the case was registered, he said it was for exceeding the 50-decibel noise level limit imposed by the high court last week.

The Bombay High Court had granted permission to the Shiv Sena to hold its annual Dussehra rally with strict conditions as Shivaji Park has been declared a silence zone earlier this year.

Earlier, several residents of Shivaji Park area and AWAZ Foundation, an NGO, complained to the police about how the Shiv Sena Dussehra rally had grossly exceeded the noise level limits.

AWAZ's Sumaira Ali said the noise levels were between 65 at the lowest and 93.2 at the highest, 'which were nowhere close to 50 db specified by the Bombay High Court'.

She added that 66-73 db were recorded during party executive president Uddhav Thackeray's speech and 66-93 db during party chief Bal Thackeray's speech.

During the round when fire crackers were burst to celebrate the success of the rally and anointment of Aditya Thackeray as the Yuva Sena chief, the decibel reached between 69.6 and 93.2, she added.

However, senior party leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi's speech created lesser air pollution, notching between 65-72 db. The national anthem when sung recorded 78-85 db.

AWAZ has written to Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal seeking action against party officials responsible for organising the rally and violating the court orders.

If found guilty, the punishment under the Environment Protection Act and Noise Pollution Rules is Rs 1 lakh fine and imprisonment up to five years, she said.

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