Guwahati: A silent zone near all religious has been declared in Kamrup district, which includes Guwahati and its suburbs, by District Magistrate. The zone covers all prominent religious places like Gurudwara, Temples, Mosques. The orders don’t directly point towards usage of the loudspeaker. However, as per a notification issued on Friday evening, DM M Angamuthu has asked the State Pollution Control Board to submit a monthly report on noise pollution in these zones, reported Indian Express.
The notification was issued in “compliance with the direction received from the Government of Assam”. It states that the decision was taken under Rule 3 (2) of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, of the Environment Protection Act of 1986.
Angamuthi on asking about the usage of the loudspeaker, he said: “Anyway, the use of loudspeakers is not permitted between 10 pm and 6 am.” The Environment Protection Act of 1986, deals with “ambient air quality standards in respect of noise for different areas/zones”.
Rule 3 (2) states that the “State Government may categorise the areas into industrial, commercial, residential or silence areas/zones for the purpose of implementation of noise standards for different areas”. According to the notification, the five areas marked as silent zones in Guwahati include all government and private hospitals; educational institutions; the high court, district and sessions court and the CJM’s court; all government offices; and, “all prominent religious places inclusive of temples, gurudwaras, mosques, churches, monastery, math and naam-ghar, etc”.
Sonu Nigam on April 16 had posted on Twitter: “God bless everyone. I’m not a Muslim and I have to be woken up by the Azaan in the morning. When will this forced religiousness end in India.” In another tweet, he wrote: “I don’t believe in any temple or gurudwara using electricity to wake up people who don’t follow the religion. Why then..? Honest? True?” which became a topic of heated debate recently.