Kanwar Yatra boomboxes hit 110 decibels in Delhi, 30 above legal limits

The Story in Brief

Kanwar Yatra convoy trucks with loudspeaker-mounted boomboxes are breaching every legal noise ceiling in Delhi, an HT investigation found. A sound meter registered peaks of 110 decibels at two rest camps in east Delhi, more than 30 decibels above the 75-decibel loudspeaker limit and the 55-decibel daytime residential cap. Even between passing trucks, ambient noise held between 80 and 88 decibels. Readings topped 109 decibels on Friday and Saturday evenings, and hit 89.5 decibels at 11.35 pm near Kalkaji, well past the 10 pm curfew.

Delhi Police, which has designated eight Kanwar corridors and 308 rest camps, has not filed any FIRs. A senior officer told HT that verbal agreements with Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to keep modified convoys out failed, leaving police to only ask drivers to lower volume or cut cables. The Motor Vehicles Act prohibits the boomboxes and the modifications. The CPCB rules and a 2005 Supreme Court order cap loudspeakers at 75 decibels, a limit the 109-decibel peaks far exceed.