Microphones blaring at the Nababarsha Boi Utsab organised by the Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Guild on Taltala Maath, less than 10 metres from the boundary wall of Aurobindo Seva Kendra hospital (EEDF) at Jodhpur Park, have gone silent after the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) sent a letter to the Kolkata Police commissioner highlighting the rules to be followed in silence zones.
The Plurals had reported in My Kolkata on Wednesday about the noise norms and violation and the complaint lodged by environmental platform Sabuj Mancha with environment minister Manas Bhunia and senior PCB officials.
The guild called off programmes at the book fair to avoid noise norms violation. “After the PCB’s order was received, we decided to switch off the microphones,” Tridib Chatterjee, honorary general secretary of the Guild, told The Plurals on Thursday. The formal communiqué from the Guild issued on April 19 read, “We don’t have any option but to cancel all the scheduled literary and cultural programmes of the Nababarsha Boi Utsab (following) the notification of the West Bengal pollution Control Board which was communicated to us today”.
Microphones blaring at the Nababarsha Boi Utsab organised by the Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Guild on Taltala Maath, less than 10 metres from the boundary wall of Aurobindo Seva Kendra hospital (EEDF)
The PCB letter to the police clearly stated, “No microphone should be used or operated within the Silence Zone Areas” and sought an “action taken report” at the earliest.
“We have recently received a complaint from Sabuj Mancha regarding the blaring microphones & sound boxes adjacent to Sri Aurobindo Seva Kendra hospital (EEDF) at Taltala ground off Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kolkata wherein a book fair is being organised by Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Guild and others between April 16 and 25. In view of this, it is requested to see that the guideline with respect to Silence Zone should be complied with strictly and accordingly, local police officers should be directed to oversee the compliance of noise rules in the aforementioned hospital not only during the ongoing book fair but also during any such functions to be organised in future,” read PCB member secretary Rajesh Kumar’s letter to Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal on Wednesday.
"We are happy that the microphones close to the hospital were stopped immediately after our communication to the police," PCB chairman Kalyan Rudra said.
Naba Dutta, general secretary of Sabuj Mancha, was happy with the action. “We thank the PCB and the environment minister for taking prompt action; we hope that the administration will act similarly in case of noise and other environmental violations in future,” Dutta said.
“The PCB directive and subsequent immediate compliance by the Guild send a very positive signal to all sections of the society that if such a decision can be taken against an influential organisation like Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Guild, then other violators will be also taken to task,” said Biswajit Mukherejee, former chief law officer of the state pollution control board.
“Noise pollution is not only severely affecting our hearing ability, it is also triggering a range of mental, physical problems as well as behavioural patterns. Hence, we should practise zero tolerance against noise violation; and the latest PCB directive is a key step in that direction,” said Dulal Bose, ENT physician and former sheriff of Kolkata and president of Sabuj Mancha.
Sources said environment minister Manas Bhunia had personally asked the state PCB to intervene as per law so that the violation didn’t set a bad precedent.
“PCB made a good decision as the microphones were blaring close to a hospital… in future we will ensure that no mikes are used at the spot. I advised the guild likewise,” said Debasish Kumar, mayoral council member, Kolkata Municipal Corporation. KMC was a co-organiser of the event.
