Sound judgment: No DJs, Dolby during Ganpati visarjan in Mumbai till Sep 19

The Bombay High Court has banned use of Disc Jockeys (DJs) and Dolby sound system during visarjan till September 19. "We cannot be mute to the ground realities," said a division bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and Sarang Kotwal, "The state does not have the optimum resources to keep a check (on noise pollution), thus it may have adopted this method of prohibition."

Some mandals had taken steps towards a more peaceful celebration even before Friday's judgment. Naresh Dahibhavkar, president of Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), which represents 11,000 sarvajanik Ganesh mandals, says the body told mandals in 2017 to not use a DJ and 90 per cent of them complied. "Many mandals have shifted to using traditional musical instruments," says Dahibhavkar.

Activists fighting noise pollution welcomed the order. "It's a traditional festival that has to be celebrated in traditional manner," says Dr Mahesh Bedekar, one such activist. "The idea of festivals is to bring happiness and not cause inconvenience and harm people's health. [We] Hope mandals and devotees understand this logic."

Meanwhile the police has promised action against wrongdoers. "We will record the sound, register a case and submit a report to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, which will register a complaint and fine the defaulters. The court shall decide tenure of punishment," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Manjunath Shinge.