53,942 unauthorised loudspeakers removed from religious places across UP

Nearly 54,000 unauthorised loudspeakers were removed from religious places and the volume of over 60,000 was set to permissible limits across Uttar Pradesh following a government order, a senior police official said on Sunday.

A statewide drive undertaken to remove unauthorized loudspeakers from religious places and set the volume of others within permissible limits began on April 25.

Under this exercise, a total of 53,942 loudspeakers were removed and volume of 60,295 loudspeakers was set within permissible limits till Sunday morning, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

The drive will continue in the coming days, confirmed a senior home department official.

The ADGP said that the loudspeakers are being removed from all religious places without any discrimination.

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Explaining further about the action, Kumar said, "The loudspeakers which are being removed are unauthorised." Those loudspeakers which have been placed without taking due permission from the district administration or the ones which are placed in excess of the permitted numbers are categorised as unauthorised, he added.

He said, "Orders of the high court regarding loudspeakers are also being considered during the exercise." As per the said 2017 order, the High court had asked the UP government if the loudspeakers at religious and public places were installed after taking permission in writing from authorities referring to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.

The recent drive against loudspeakers followed after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during a review meeting, in April, said that people have the freedom to perform their religious practices according to their faith.

"Though microphones can be used, it should be ensured that the sound does not come out of any premises. People should not face any problem," he had said.