The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has filed an affidavit in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that shows Kolkata police did not register any case for noise rule violation by using loudspeakers and DJ boxes during the festival month of October 2022.
An official of the board submitted the affidavit on December 6 following a petition filed by environment activist Subhas Datta on noise rule violations.
The submission has raised questions as the board as well as non-government watchdogs had received many complaints about illegal use of loudspeakers and DJ boxes (high-pitch music system) during the festive season, especially Diwali.
The complaints were all forwarded to the police as under the noise rules, only the police have the power to act against the violators.
In the annexure titled “Copies of the compilation reports of the police authorities”, tagged with the affidavit, it is stated that no case was registered in the Kolkata police area in October for illegal use of loudspeakers and DJ boxes. Nor was any arrest made for such violations. The column for seizure and prosecution, too, was blank.
Sources said at least 70 complaints regarding use of loudspeakers in violation of rules were forwarded to the police across the state on Diwali by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board and non-government watchdog Sabuj Mancha. About half the complaints were forwarded to Kolkata police.
The list excludes the complaints made directly to the police.
“I will look into the data,” a senior police officer at Lalbazar told The Telegraph. The officer requested not to be named.
The affidavit, a copy of which is with this newspaper, shows that no case was registered in the adjoining Bidhannagar and Howrah as well for such violations.
Across the state, only seven cases were lodged for illegal use of loudspeakers and DJ boxes and as many people were arrested in October, according to the affidavit.
“We had received 19 complaints, about half of which were from Kolkata,” said a senior WBPCB official.
“We had received about 55 complaints during Diwali, around half of them from Kolkata. All were forwarded to the respective police stations,” said Naba Dutta, secretary of Sabuj Mancha.
Dutta said the number of violations involving loudspeakers was more this year compared with earlier years.
Only about 10 per cent of the violations get reported, according to green watchdogs. “That further highlights the mismatch between reality and action taken by the police,” petitioner Subhas Datta said.