Azad Maidan may no more see loud rallies

Loudspeakers and megaphones may no longer be allowed at Azad Maidan, which has seen many non-violent rallies and protests with heavy sloganeering in the past to express anger against the administration.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will soon declare Mahapalika Marg a silence zone. Consequently, Azad Maidan, which is along the road, will also be a part of the zone.

The Bombay High Court had recently instructed the state and the civic body to identify silence zones in the city, while hearing a petition by Awaz, a non-governmental organisation, seeking measures to curtail noise pollution. According to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, areas within 100 metres of a hospital, an educational institution, or a religious place should be a silence zone.

“The Mahapalika Marg has the BMC headquarters, a court (metropolitan magistrate’s court), a hospital (Cama and Albless), and a college (St Xavier’s),” Additional Municipal Commissioner RA Rajeev said. “So the road will be a silence zone. Since Azad Maidan is along the road, the use of loudspeakers there can be banned,” he said. 
Honking, exploding crackers, and using loudspeakers in a silence zone are illegal, Rajeev said. “The police, which is the implementing and monitoring authority on silent zones, can decide whether to ban loudspeakers at the Maidan.”