Satara: MP Udayanraje, guardian minister Desai clash over dolby seizure

Ganesh immersion processions in Satara have ended, but the row over DJ-dolby noise has not died down. Member of Parliament Udayanraje Bhosale has questioned the police action taken for violation of noise pollution rules, backing dolby system operators and raising questions about the administration's role. Guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai has said action will follow wherever the law was broken, but that any action taken without a rule violation would be investigated. The crackdown on dolby systems has now taken on a political colour.

During the Ganesh immersion in Satara city, police checked DJ-dolby systems to enforce noise pollution rules. Systems found exceeding the permitted sound limit were acted against, and some dolby equipment was seized. Following this, dolby operators met Udayanraje Bhosale to put forward their case.

Udayanraje questioned the manner of the action, saying many people in the dolby business do this work for their livelihood. He asked whether these people would do this work if they had any other means of employment. He also said he would speak to the police administration to have the seized dolby equipment released.

After Udayanraje's stand brought the issue into political debate, guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai clarified the administration's position. Desai said the sound limit was set by the government itself, and police have sound-measuring equipment to check it. He made clear that action is taken as per rules if the measured level is found to exceed the limit.

Desai further said that if any dolby system had not exceeded the limit and evidence emerged that action was still taken against it, a full inquiry would be conducted once the entire immersion procession process was over. This has triggered a political debate over whether it was a case of rules being followed or of excess in enforcement.

Even as political accusations and counter-accusations continued over the dolby crackdown, elderly citizens in Satara held a silent march against noise pollution to make their own point. Citizens, including elderly doctors, carried protest boards demanding a ban on the deafening noise of DJ-dolby systems as well as the use of laser lights. The march raised the point that noise pollution causes the most trouble to the elderly, the sick and young children, and that while people have a right to celebrate festivals, they must also keep in mind the health of others and legal limits.

The elderly citizens also praised the police for keeping their word on acting against DJ systems exceeding the permitted sound limit. While the livelihood of dolby operators has become a political issue on one hand, questions of citizens' health and rule compliance have also come up on the other. The fervour of Ganeshotsav has faded, but the dispute over the dolby crackdown has now become a subject of political and social debate in Satara.