Chandrapur bans firecrackers on roads and chowks, makes written permission mandatory for loudspeakers

The Chandrapur Municipal Corporation has issued a public notice to curb rising air and noise pollution in the city. The notice aims to stop the unchecked use of firecrackers, loud loudspeakers and noise in public places.

According to the notice, bursting firecrackers on public roads, lanes, footpaths and chowks has been banned. In addition, the use of loudspeakers and firecrackers is prohibited within a 100-metre radius in the declared silence zones around hospitals, educational institutions, courts and places of worship in the city.

Written permission from the competent authority will be mandatory to operate loudspeakers and sound systems. Anyone found playing a loudspeaker without permission, or violating the prescribed noise limit, will have the equipment seized and will be fined as per the rules.

Limits have been fixed for different zones to control noise pollution. They are 75 decibels by day and 70 at night in industrial areas, 65 by day and 55 at night in commercial areas, and 55 by day and 45 at night in residential areas. In silence zones, the daytime limit is 50 decibels and the night-time limit is 40.

To ensure that citizens' complaints are resolved quickly, the corporation has appointed Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Chidrawar as the nodal officer. A grievance redressal cell is functioning in the corporation's fire department. People can register complaints about noise pollution in their area there.

The cell's helpline number is 101. It can also be reached at 07172 254614, 9823017101 and 18005321575. Zone-wise email IDs have also been given: [email protected] for Zone 1, [email protected] for Zone 2 and [email protected] for Zone 3.

The commissioner of the corporation has appealed to citizens to follow the corporation's rules and cooperate with the administration so that the city remains clean and free of noise pollution.