Laws on mute as kanwar boomboxes deafen Delhi

Delhi residents faced renewed noise pollution woes Saturday night as kanwariyas passed through the city playing loud music from boombox-laden vehicles, with police remaining largely inactive despite clear breaches of sound regulations.

- Hemani Bhandari

The problem is only set to worsen over Sunday and Monday, when the yatra picks up, according to officials. A total of 374 camps have been set up for kanwariyas in the city—in some parts, they have been set up in front of hospitals, raising annual concerns regarding the boombox menace.

Despite police and other enforcement agencies launching measures to ensure that boomboxes are not played above permissible levels, residents say that blasting of devotional music at deafening volumes on the city’s streets, often through the night, is hardly reined in by the authorities on the ground.

Asha Puri, a 65-year-old resident of Raja Garden in west Delhi whose residence is on the Shivaji MargNajafgarh Road, said, “It’s been manageable so far but once the Yatra starts in Delhi, it becomes concerning for us. We can't sleep in peace as the music is so loud. When we complain to the police, they throw their hands up in the air. Sometimes, police tell Kanwariyas to lower the volume but that's all.”

“There's absolute lawlessness on the roads on these days. They are extremely unregulated and police don't touch them at all. They don’t stop their trucks playing boomboxes,” a 78-year-old resident of Vasant Vihar said.