Diljit Dosanjh concert: Noise level violation attracts punishment of up to 5 years or Rs 1 lakh fine, or both

Commercial area: City Centre Sector-17, City Centre Sector 34-A, B, City Centre Sector 43-C, D, commercial strips along V-2 Roads (Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg and Vikas Marg) and V-3 Road (Himalaya Marg), Manimajra Motor Market, Motor Market Sector-43, 48, 52, and the shopping area near the Manimajra bus stand.

Residential area: Sectors except areas falling under educational institutions, hospitals and the Leisure Valley park. Sectors 2 to 5 and 6 (including golf course), 7 to 11, 15, 16, 18 to 33, 34-C and D, 35 to 42, 43-A and B, 44 to 47, and portions of sectors 48 to 56 falling within the boundary of Chandigarh, Manimajra town (excluding the motor market and shopping area near the bus stand), and all the village abadis (Lal Dora) of Chandigarh. These areas include the sub-sector shopping areas along V-4 Roads in various sectors.

Silence zone: Sector-1 (Capital Complex, including Rajendra Park and Chandigarh Club), Sector-12, Sector-14 (Panjab University), the entire area around the lake up to 100 m from the high water mark, and the entire area northeast of Uttar Marg including Rock Garden and Lake Club. An area comprising 100 m around all hospitals, educational institutions, courts and religious places.

What do the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control Rules) applicable in Chandigarh say?

The Chandigarh administration modified these Rules vide notification dated January 19, 2005. Under the Rules, as per the ambient air quality standards in respect of noise, there are two time zones – day time (DT) and night time (NT) for four zones: Industrial area (DT-75 decibels, NT-70 decibels), commercial area (DT-65db, NT-55db), residential area (DT-55db, NT-45db) and silence zone (DT-50db, NT-40db). Day time means from 6 am to 10 pm and night time from 10 pm to 6 am. Decibel is the unit in which noise is measured.

What does the Act under which the administration is likely to take action say?

In the affidavit filed by Chandigarh administration through its senior standing counsel Amit Jhanji, the Union Territory is likely to take action under section 15 of the Environment Protection Act 1986.

The Act states that “1. whoever fails to comply with or contravenes any of the provisions of this Act, or the Rules made or orders or directions issued thereunder, shall, in respect of each such failure or contravention, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both, and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction for the first such failure or contravention. 2. If the failure or contravention referred to in sub-section (1) continues beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years”.

What were the noise levels recorded during Diljit Dosanjh’s concert

Noise levels were monitored at three locations and the background noise level before the concert started was a maximum of 83.5 decibels and a minimum of 60.3 decibels. The noise levels from the three monitored locations were also mentioned in the affidavit at different timings, with one location surrounding the concert venue recording 93.1 decibels at 8.45 pm.