Noise Pollution: Law and Remedies

Environmental Law in India is a study of the growth of law and jurisprudence relating to the subject of environmental and highlights various dimensions of the environmental regime. It inter alia examines the related aspects like a public nuisance, noise pollution and civil remedies against environmental maladies. The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rule, 2000 framed under EPA demarcates the areas where noise is regulated and controlled. Even before this law came into being, courts were seized on the issue of the impact of noise pollution on health. Undesirable noise was considered a nuisance and as interference on one’s right to freedom of speech, privacy and silence. There is always a clash between freedom of speech and expression and the freedom of privacy and silence when the loudspeakers are indiscriminately used in public places. The amplifier and microphone create tremendous noise and sound. They injure people’s rights to leisure, to sleep and to enjoy their lives in the way they like without violating any of the provisions of the law. The people also have the right to read and speak with others, the right not to hear and the right to remain silent. The Noise Rules lay down restrictions according to the time and decibel limits for noise in different places. The courts also emphasise the duties of different agencies with a warning that, ‘silence brings bliss, noise invites chaos’, and further silent atmosphere helps in achieving an undisturbed sleep and peaceful rest which are the biological necessities for health. The book highlights different aspects of noise pollution and related cases at appropriate places.…