West Bengal removes 1,279 mosque and 199 temple loudspeakers
Times of India | 6 August 2026
KOLKATA: Loudspeakers were removed from around 1,500 religious institutions across Bengal in two days as part of a police crackdown on pollution complaints, report Zeeshan Jawed & Dwaipayan Ghosh. At least 1,279 mosques and 199 temples were ordered to remove loudspeakers for violating prescribed noise limits.
Senior police officers said action was being taken "uniformly across religious institutions". Cops are nudging managements of places of worship to dismantle their public address systems and enforce noise norms in a first-of-its-kind drive in the state. Under Bengal's Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, use of daytime (6am to 10pm) public loudspeaker requires prior police permission, mandatory sound limiters and strict adherence to 50-75 decibels.
Several mosque and temple committee representatives told TOI that local police had verbally instructed them to remove loudspeakers, and there was no written order.