The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the station house officer of every police station in Indore to appoint two volunteers from each ward of the city who can immediately inform the police about persons and vehicles causing noise pollution, and also record video of the violation on their mobile phones.
Source: LiveLaw
A division bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai said members of the public who hesitate to contact the police directly can approach the two nominated volunteers of their ward instead, and that prompt action must be taken on such complaints in accordance with law.
The bench observed that residents had faced “unbridled noise pollution” during the Navratri and Dussehra festive season and that the police were, in its words, totally helpless to curb and handle it. It directed the respondents to place on record the complaints received by police stations across the city on noise pollution, along with any suo moto complaints registered by the police themselves.
After an assistant commissioner of police informed the court that devices for measuring sound pollution had not been used to record violations or act against violators, the bench directed that such devices be supplied to the police personnel of every police station in Indore who attend noise complaints. It also directed that the complaint contact number of each police station be published in newspapers and on the Indore Police website.
The court separately directed the Indore Municipal Corporation to reduce the volume of the loudspeakers on its garbage collection vans, which play a cleanliness song at full volume, to the permissible decibel limit or at least 25 per cent of the present volume.
On silence zones, the bench held that the State showing newspaper excerpts mentioning such zones was not proper compliance with its earlier direction of September 24, 2026, and again directed it to publish the list and invite suggestions for declaring other prominent places as silence zones.
The directions came on a public interest petition alleging that unchecked noise pollution in Indore violates the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, including the right to peaceful sleep. The petitioner contended that loudspeakers are routinely operated from 6 a.m. till midnight and at times beyond, in violation of statutory restrictions, and that excessive noise particularly affects elderly persons, children and people with chronic illnesses.