Mumbai: A collective of Muslim lawyers, law students and activists have written to the government, seeking city-specific Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the use of loudspeakers only in the month of Ramzan. Ramzan will begin from the evening of Feb 17, and many in the community fear that the lengthy procedure to get permission for the use of loudspeakers deters many mosques from approaching the police to get the permission. “Just as the authorities issue SOP and special guidelines to keep eateries open in the night during Ramzan, we have requested the authorities to issue an SOP on the use of loudspeakers, allowing the mosques to use them by just intimating the local police,” said Faiyaz Alam Shaikh, spokesperson for the collective. The letter to the state’s chief secretary, police commissioner, BMC commissioner and Maharashtra pollution control board has said that the guidelines should clearly say that the small, box-type speakers with locked decibel limits should be allowed only for the month of Ramzan. Pollution Control Board guidelines (Noise Pollution Rules, 2000) prohibit loudspeaker use from 10pm to 6am. The permissible limit for commercial areas is 65 decibel while for residential areas it is 55.
