The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Wednesday passed a resolution seeking the “removal of illegal loudspeakers” in the city.
The resolution was moved by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Narotam Sharma from Ward Number 3 in Jammu’s old city. It tasks the District Magistrate (DM) with removing “illegal loudspeakers and public address systems” operating without permission at banquet and community halls, and temples, mosques, gurdwaras, churches and other religious shrines.
The resolution reads: “It’s a lawful and moral duty of this house to prevent all kinds of pollution, including noise pollution. Scientific researches have proved that noise pollution is responsible for several kinds of health problems including stress-related illnesses, sleep disturbance, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss and heart disease.”
The resolution requires the DM to “to ensure ban” on loudspeakers between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., except at places that “have got permission from the concerned authorities with undertaking to use it within permissible decibel.”
The local body, with a majority of 43 BJP councillors, passed the resolution in the 15th general meeting of the JMC. “We will not remove loudspeakers. The administration will remove them,” JMC Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta said.
Congress municipal councillor Ritu Choudhary alleged the resolution had been passed “without proper discussion”.
