New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has granted time till April 30 for an assigned-panel to submit its report on preparation of legal framework for effective implemention of the noise norms in the national capital.
The subject matter is related to the failure of the statutory authorities in Delhi in controlling noise pollution as per statutory mandate of Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 (Noise Rules).
It was dealt with earlier by the NGT in the light of a judgment of Delhi High Court in Free Legal Aid Cell v. Government of NCT of Delhi and of the Supreme Court in the matter ‘Noise Pollution – Implementation of the Laws for restricting use of loud speakers and high volume producing sound systems’.
A bench of NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also sought the panel to inform the green court if any further direction becomes necessary in the order dated February 3.
The Tribunal considered the matter on several dates and passed various orders after seeking factual status report about the compliance of the norms and interaction with the concerned officers who appeared in person during the hearing.
On noting the continuing violations of norms, on August 11, 2020, the tribunal directed the Chief Secretary and Police Commissioner, Delhi to jointly take stock of the situation on regular basis and also constituted a Monitoring Committee headed by Justice S.P. Garg, former Judge of Delhi High Court.
However, later the green court found that while some regulatory framework is said to have been made operational, there is no effective centrali’ed mechanism for monitoring. Later, the NGT observed there is repeated failures in the last several years and formed a monitoring committee headed by a former Judge of the High Court to ascertain the status of compliance and suggest further measures in the context of Delhi for enforcement of noise pollution control measures.
In pursuance of it, a status report was filed by DPCC on June 28, 2021 mentioning some of the steps taken for enforcement of the noise control norms. The status report was also filed by Delhi Police on August 10, 2021 on steps taken by Delhi Police.
However, a detailed expert report was still awaited due to various reasons, including frequent transfers of Nodel Officers, pandemic and other reasons and the submission of report requires more time.
Accordingly, the NGT granted more time to the Committee to complete its work by April 30.
(IANS)
