Loudspeakers till midnight: Deshmukh may declare September 27 deadline

Under his discretionary powers,the Pune District Collector Vikas Deshmukh is likely to declare September 27 as deadline for playing loudspeakers till midnight.

The final decision and date will be,however,declared after a consultation with the government. The district administration is positive on the date as it has already consulted with the Ganesh mandals and police authorities.

The collector said he would use his discretionary powers only on one day. The government has specified 13 out of 15 days in the year on which loudspeakers could be played till midnight and the collector said he would follow the same. With the collector allowing to extend the deadline only for two days in a year,he said he would do so only for one day for the ten-day ganesh festival.

The extension aims to enable the devotees to see maximum number of idols.

Several political parties demanded that loudspeakers should be allowed throughout the ten-day festival. They have argued that since the concession for Shiv Jayanti,Eid-E-Milad,Maharashtra Day and Dr Ambedkar Jayanti has not been utilised,the government should do so during the ten-day festival.

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