Alappuzha
In this small district of Kerala, P P Sumanan, a retired arts teacher, tormented day and night by loud noise emanating from religious institutions in his Kalarcode neighbourhood, approached the Principal Municipal Court of Kerala in 1981.
Though the verdict went in his favour, local authorities refused to implement the court's directives. Sumanan again went to court. When the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam directed the authorities to implement noise pollution rules, it came to light that the town had not even been divided into sound zones as per the cpcb standards. Exasperated, the court directed the authorities to classify the areas and only then move on to seek permission for use of loudspeakers.
This raised the hackles of the Kerala Sound Services Association, that provided loudspeakers for public functions. It protested against the court order.
Later, Sumanan had to seek police protection on receiving threats from religious groups and loudspeaker associations.
On the positive side, the Devaswom Board, sent notices to all the temples it controlled in the area asking them to stick to the court order on the use of microphones. The archbishop of Alappuzha also sent a similar directive to all the churches in the area.
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