Govt withdraws order on noise pollution by temples

Th.e state government has withdrawn a controversial circular issued by Department of Religious Institutions and Endowments asking four temples in the Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru not to create sound pollution, after stiff opposition from ruling party MLAs. This was announced by Home Minister Araga Jnanendra during zero hour in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

Raising the issue, C.T. Ravi and Ravi Subramanya, both BJP MLAs, said the ringing of bells, the blowing of conch and the beating of two sided drums is common during the puja in temples and houses. This has been in practice for several hundreds of years. The opposition to this practice in four important temples of Basavanagudi has come now and it looks like there is a conspiracy behind the order on noise pollution, they added.

They pointed out that some officers had visited the Dodda Ganapati temple and three other temples all of a sudden and issued notice on charges of violating noise pollution rules. Have these officers taken prior permssion of their department heads before visiting those temples, the MLAs wondered.

The minister claimed that the order was not aimed at any religion or community and was issued because of some confusion. The government has withdrawn the said order immediately, he added.