HC asks Garba mandal to get hospital NOC to continue revelry

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice N M Jamdar was today informed by NGO Awaaz Foundation that the Mandal had violated the court orders by not installing distributed sound systems, leading to higher noise levels beyond the permissible limits.

The high court on Saturday allowed Navyuvak Mitra Mandal to hold Dandiya during the ongoing Navratri festival.

The mandal had approached the court after the municipal corporation denied permission on the ground that the area was declared a silence zone due to a hospital located there.

The NGO today told the court that as per recordings done last night, decibel levels at the venue were minimum 67 and maximum 97, which is not permissible under the noise pollution norms. The NGO sought the court to reject its permission.

The mandal in its defence said it could not install the distributed sound system as directed by the court due to unavailability and had hence installed small speakers.

Refusing to reject the permission, the court directed the mandal to procure a no objection certificate from the hospital in the area to continue with the Dandiya tonight.

The bench clarified that it was not expressing any opinion with regards to the silence zone area, but in this case considering that the petitioners have been holding the function for the last 15 years the permission was allowed.

The bench also clarified that from next year the organisers should approach the authorities for permission to hold the function on an open ground and not on public road as it does now.