After almost being cancelled due to a court order over a complaint filed by resident Berges Malu regarding a violation of noise limit guidelines, this year's Kala Ghoda festival received another setback of Friday night, when Malu complained to the Colaba police station about construction work continuing at K Dubash Marg beyond the 10 pm deadline. The police reached the spot and stopped the work.


Police from Colaba police station at K Dubhash Marg to stop
construction work after the 10 pm deadline on Friday

According to the Noise Pollution Act 2000, no construction work can be carried out between 10 pm and 6 am.

The police official on duty confirmed the complaint and action taken to this reporter. Malu says, "The volunteers told the police they had the required permission, but they couldn't produce documents.

If they have permissions, they can go ahead. They need to carry out the festival keeping the law in mind."

The police parked a wireless van at the spot, stopping trucks from unloading material. "Hats off to the Mumbai Police. I am not against the festival, but it should be conducted legally, without breaking norms," said Malu.
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After acquiring conditional permission to hold this year's festival, the organisers had promised to monitor sound levels to ensure they remain within permissible limits.

They hadn't applied for permissions since they had planned not to use loudspeakers, but from the look of it, the police is keeping an eye on goings on anyway.

Vinod Sawant, Senior Police Inspector, Colaba police station said, "We stopped the organisers from unloading supplies at night. They resumed work in the day. They have promised not to break the law. They don't have permission to use loudspeakers or music systems."

Maneck Davar, secretary, Kala Ghoda Association, said, "We are not using loudspeakers. But it seems like one resident is intent on spoiling the festival. We won't let anything affect our non-profit initiative which has been going on for 13 years."