Ramdas Kadam surpasses Thackerays in noise pollution

The tiger has mellowed — there was an occasional roar or two at Shivaji Park on Thursday night. The tiger cub had a constant growl. But the tiger protégé had the loudest roar.

Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav paled before Ramdas Kadam when it came to roaring at the Shiv Sena’s annual Dussehra rally. Sumaira Abdulali, anti-noise pollution activist, said Kadam not only crossed the Bombay high court prescribed 50 decibel limit at the rally, but also surpassed Thackeray’s.

Abdulali was present at the venue to monitor the noise levels. For the second time in its history, the Sena had to knock on the HC’s door for permission to hold the rally at Shivaji Park. Like last year, the court gave its consent with riders — keep the decibel limit to 50 and end the rally by 10pm.

The party followed the order, but only the 10pm deadline bit. How the court perceives the matter is different, but with so many ‘tigers’ around, the Sena does expect the court to give certain leeway in noise matters. "What if a plane passes over the ground?" asked Thackeray. "Will the police go up and tell the pilot the sound level is high and it needs to be toned down.” After a brief pause, the Sena chief added that people needed to understand "the historical importance of this ground". "How can you restrict us?"

The Shivaji Park falls in a silence zone but the court makes exceptions. Last year, too, it had given the Sena permission to hold its rally only if they followed the noise limit. Last year, too, the party had flouted the rules. 

“The decibel level in Ramdas Kadam’s speech hovered between 61 and 85," Abdulali said. “Uddhav’s was between 58 and 77. Thackeray was surprisingly soft: the decibel level was between 57 and 71.”