Kerala - Kochi   

Action sought against officials

Special Correspondent

Forum petitions Lok Ayukta

KOCHI: The Lok Ayukta has been petitioned to take action against 28 Government officials, including the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police, for failing to check noise pollution caused, among other things, by loudspeakers at temple festivals.

The Forum for Prevention of Environmental and Sound Pollution has urged the Lok Ayukta to declare these officials "incompetent" to hold their posts under the Lok Ayukta Act and recommend to the Government their removal.

After recording the petition, the Lok Ayukta has asked the forum functionaries to testify before it on March 29.

The forum has alleged that the officials had wilfully neglected enforcement of the Union Government's Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, the Kerala High Court directives on noise pollution and a verdict by the Supreme Court on November 5, 2005. The officials include the Home Secretary, collectors and superintendents of police of Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuaram districts, a few deputy superintendents of police and sub-inspectors.

The petitioners, citing specific instances of violations of the rules, claimed that the officials responsible to prosecute the violators had willingly neglected to do so. Senior officials such as the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police had failed to give clear guidelines to their staff on enforcing the rules.

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