The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has sent an order prohibiting the use of loudspeakers in areas where educational institutes are located from three days before the start of Class X and XII board exams to police and various boards conducting the examinations.
The first board examination (Madhyamik) starts on Friday. The others — across three boards — will begin around mid-February and will continue till April. The order will be in place till the exams are over.
“The order issued by the department of environment, government of West Bengal, prohibits the use of loud speakers/public address systems in areas where educational institutions are located, from three days prior to the commencement of Secondary (Class X) and Higher Secondary (Class XII) examinations (conducted by a recognised educational board or council like the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education, ICSE, ISC, and others), till completion of such examinations,” says the memo dated January 25, signed by the member secretary of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board.
The member secretary of the state pollution control board, Rajesh Kumar, said the order is applicable upto 100 metre-radius of an educational institute.
The city has educational institutes in almost every corner and hence, the order is likely to cover practically all areas.
“This is a standing order. We have asked the police and the district authorities to implement it,” said Kumar.
It will be in force until any further order is issued.
Kumar said outside the 100 metre-radius the sound level should not be more than 55 decibels in residential areas, 65 decibels in commercial areas and 75 decibels in industrial areas.
The memo has been addressed to the director-general of police, Bengal, the commissioners of police in Calcutta, Howrah, Bidhannagar, Barrackpore, Asansol-Durgapur, Chandernagore, Siliguri Metropolitan police, and the district magistrates, secretaries to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the school education department and the higher education department, to the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.
Madhyamik will start on Friday and end on February 12. The higher secondary examination will continue from February 16 to February 29.
The ISC (Class XII) exam will begin on February 12 and end on April 3 while Class X exam will begin on February 21 and end on March 28. The CBSE Class X and XII examinations will start on February 15. Class X will finish on March 13 and Class XII will end on April 2.
Some of the schools have received a copy of the memo from their board.
This year, Saraswati Puja is on February 14, which is in the middle of the board examinations. Usually, the use of loudspeakers goes up during a festival.
Not all schools have large campuses where examinees can write their papers without any outside noise disturbing them.
“Students, while writing an examination or preparing for it, need to concentrate and the sound of loudspeakers or microphones disturbs them. This order is in favour of students,” said Sunita Sen, principal,The BSS School.