Bombay High Court warns state to buy decibel meters

The Bombay high court on Thursday said that an “aggravated contempt action” would be initiated against the state additional chief secretary (home) K.P. Bakshi if the Maharashtra government did not comply with the deadline it had set to purchase decibel meters meant to measure noise levels.

In May, a division bench of justices A.S. Oka and A.A. Sayed had issued a contempt notice against Mr Bakshi for “wilful and deliberate” breach of its January 4 order directing the procurement of 1,843 decibel meters within three months.

On Thursday, the government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani submitted a fresh affidavit, saying it would procure the decibel meters by November 2016. The court warned the government that it must meet the November deadline in its entirety.

In August, when the court passed its judgement on various noise pollution PILs, the government had told the high court that the meters would be procured within 60 days. On October 4, the state sought time till November. The HC had asked Mr Bakshi to remain present in the court on Monday, and he had told the court that the companies that are meant to supply the decibel meters have allegedly delayed delivery.

The government further said in its affidavit that it is making arrangements regarding noise mapping in all the major cities of the state. But the court was not satisfied with this statement and sought clarifications on the identity of the “major cities” that were being referred to.

Meanwhile, Awaz Foundation, one of the petitioners in the noise pollution case, informed the court that it had registered several complaints against pandals who it suspected had violated the sound pollution rules during the Ganesh and Navratri festivals, but the police had not taken any action against them.

The court, which was hearing a bunch of petitions related to noise monitoring, has asked the state government to file a report on what action it had initiated against such violators after registering the complaints.