India News | Suitable Action Will Be Taken on Minister's Letter on Loudspeaker Volume at Mosques: Ballia DM

Ballia (UP), Mar 24 (PTI) Ballia District Magistrate Aditi Singh on Wednesday said "suitable action" will be taken on Uttar Pradesh minister Anand Swaroop Shukla's letter to her for fixing the maximum volume of loudspeakers at mosques at court-mandated limit.

Singh said, "The Supreme Court, high court and the state government had issued directives on use of loudspeakers at public places. SDMs (subdivisional magistrates) and SHOs (station house officers of police) have been asked to implement them.

Asked about the minister's letter, the district magistrate said that "suitable action" would be taken on it.

In his letter, the minister said, "Religious publicity takes place through loudspeakers. Information regarding donations for the construction of mosques is disseminated in an extremely loud volume. This has an adverse impact on students, elder citizens and the health of patients. The common public is facing extreme noise pollution."

"Namaaz is offered five times in a day.... As a result of it, I face problems in doing yoga, meditation, puja and discharging government duties," Shukla had said, referring to the Kajipura Madina Masjid in his constituency.

Shukla said there are a number of schools in the vicinity of the mosque and the practice hampers their studies. 

He said the volume of loudspeakers at the mosques in Ballia should be fixed according to orders of the Allahabad High Court.

The objection to the loudspeaker volume by the UP minister had come days after a similar complaint was made by Allahabad University Vice-Chancellor Sangita Srivastava.

Srivastava had complained to the district magistrate that she is forced to wake up too early everyday due to 'azaan' being recited on a loudspeaker, urging the official to take action.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)