6,000 loudspeakers removed from religious sites in last 72 hours in Uttar Pradesh

Officials in Uttar Pradesh have removed 6,031 loudspeakers from religious sites of different communities in the past 72 hours. Volume of 30,000 loudspeakers was also lowered in accordance with the prescribed decibel levels.

A statewide drive is being undertaken to remove unauthorised loudspeakers from religious places and set the volume of others within permissible limits, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.
He added that loudspeakers are being removed from all religious places without any discrimination.


Recently, chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to ensure that the public address systems are not installed at religious sites without prior permission and at places which are permitted to use loudspeakers it should be ensured that the sound does not go beyond the premises where they are installed. "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.

Kumar said that all the SHOs had been directed to ensure compliance with the order and oversee the entire exercise of loudspeaker removal and lowering of noise from the public address system.

Explaining further about the action, he 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 information provided by the police department on Wednesday, maximum 1,366 loudspeakers were removed in districts of the Varanasi zone, followed by Meerut (1,215), Bareilly (1,070) and Kanpur (1,056).

In terms of minimising the volume of loudspeakers, the Lucknow zone tops the list with action being taken against 6,400 loudspeakers, followed by Bareilly (6,257) and Meerut (5,976).

With PTI Inputs