No relaxation for traditional instruments during Navratri: CM

MUMBAI: A day after meeting Navratri organizers, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said his government will not issue any notification allowing housing societies to play traditional instruments until midnight during the nine-day festival. “There is no question of issuing any notification on the issue,” Chavan said. A senior official attached to the CM’s office said the government cannot issue such a notification as it would amount to contempt of the court.
Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam’s on Monday had claimed that the CM had agreed to allow housing societies to play traditional instruments (without loudspeakers) until midnight. A delegation of Navratri organizers, led by Nirupam, had met Chavan on Monday, demanding loudspeaker deadline relaxation for the nine-day festival that commences on October 16.
“Between 10pm and 6am, the noise level should not exceed 45 decibels. Any traditional instrument played even without loudspeaker will certainly be more then the permissible noise limit. In absence of a notification, the departments concerned can take action against housing societies for violating norms,” a senior government official said.
Nirupam’s announcement had not gone down well with anti-noise activists, who say that they will drag the government to court, if it brings any such changes in “black and white”.
Mandal organizers heaped scorn on the “decibel-meter activists”, saying if the latter had their way, the city would not be able to organize even a ‘bhajan sandhya’. “Why not concentrate the efforts on reducing the 24x7 blaring of horns on the streets rather than target annual festivals that are the only outlet for common people to socialize?” said an organizer.
(Inputs by Bella Jaisinghani)