Cops ask representatives of places of worship to seek nod to play loudspeakers

Chintamani Niwate, representative of the Shri Dandeshwar Mandir at Khar Danda, said, “We have been told that if we cross 55 decibels, we need permission from the police, as per the Supreme Court. Even if you use a mixer in the kitchen, it goes above 55 decibels. So all of us have to take permission from police every month. This is all the result of selfish politicians trying to use religion to get votes. We request politicians to not play with people’s religious beliefs and seek votes on the work they have done.”

He added, “I am young and will go to the police station every month to get permission. However, several temple representatives are old and it won’t be possible for them to do so.”  Hemant Jadhav from Mumbadevi trust said, “We have been told that even if we are not using loudspeakers, if we cross 55 decibel, we need permission. Also, as per the time limit, we will not be able to perform kakad Aarti that takes place early morning.”

Ramesh Lodha from Dadar Jain Mandir near kabutarkhana said, “Tomorrow, we could be subjected to harassment by anti-social elements over these rules. Who will measure the sound levels ? We have been told by the police that we have to abide by these rules as tomorrow someone could approach the Supreme Court that the rules have only been applied to Muslims.”

A senior officer from the Mumbai Police said, “If we have to apply the rules regarding norms for noise pollution, it has to be done for everyone. Since we already had a meeting with mosque representatives, we also called representatives from temples, churches, gurudwaras and other religious structures.”

MNS chief Raj Thackeray had demanded that loudspeakers be removed from mosques. On Wednesday, he said that if loudspeakers were being used by temples, even they should be taken down.