Shhh! Indians told to keep the noise down

NEW DELHI — By and large, Indians embrace noise. Their festivals are a riot of colour and sound, weddings an exercise in high-decibel exuberance and house parties an extreme test of neighbourly tolerance.But now things have reached such a pitch that the government has decided to step in, beefing up decade-old noise pollution regulations to keep the volume dial turned down."Stress has been laid on making the night peaceful," the Environment Ministry said last month as it published a set of guidelines specifying when violations should be considered serious enough to merit police action.The guidelines cover a variety of noise sources from construction sites and car horns to living-room stereos and festive firecrackers.The noise limit in residential neighbourhoods is set at 45 decibels at night and 55 decibels in the day -- roughly equivalent, respectively, to the noise produced by soft and loud conversation.Anyone found to be producing noise in excess of those limits by more than five decibels should face sanction from police."These will give enforcing agencies more powers to implement rules as they are clear, precise," said J.S. Kamyotra of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).Privately, some officials admit that enforcing regulations is a much harder task than drafting them."Lets face it, we have been trying to stop people from smoking in public places. And it hasn't worked," a senior control board official told AFP on condition of anonymity."There are laws and fines and punishments but people always find a way to work around them."And if a policeman tries to shut down loudspeakers at a religious event, he risks being lynched for daring to offend religious sentiments," the official said.Such scepticism is backed by the fact that no one has ever been convicted under the 2000 Noise Pollution Control Act -- which promises seven years' imprisonment to proven offenders.With its billion-plus population, multiple religions and extraordinary social diversity, India is an almost limitless source of different,

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