Nagpur: From blaring DJs and loudspeakers to construction drilling and the screech of an iron-rod cutting machine, citizens have flagged various incidents on the “Noise Free Nagpur” portal within just two days of its launch. At least nine complaints have been received since the online platform went live on Wednesday, with grievances registered across five police stations.The complaints underline that noise concerns extend beyond the usual festive-season complaints against DJs and loudspeakers. Three complaints filed from Kotwali police station limits on Sept 4 included two specifically mentioning loud DJ music and announcements. Another complaint from Ajni police station limits concerned a loudspeaker.A complaint filed at Sitabuldi police station on Sept 5 concerned noise from a construction site in a residential area, while another complaint registered at Bajaj Nagar police station was against loud construction and drilling noise.At Sadar police station, a citizen complained about the operation of an iron-rod cutting machine, highlighting how commercial and construction activity can also become a source of disturbance for residents.The portal dashboard showed all nine complaints as “escalated”, indicating that they had moved beyond the initial response level under the platform’s time-bound grievance mechanism.One of the complaints indicated at the intensity of noise being reported. The complaint at Kotwali police station against DJ music recorded a peak sound level of 92.4 decibels and an average of 84.2 decibels during a 41-second recording. The portal flagged the reading as a severe noise level and indicated that the CPCB permissible limit had been breached.The complaint was submitted on Sept 4 at around 9.41pm and was initially assigned to the police station. After the stipulated 30-minute service level agreement (SLA) was breached, it was escalated to the ACP and subsequently to the DCP.The “Noise Free Nagpur” system (https://noisefreenagpur.in) was jointly developed and implemented by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur police following directions of the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court. The platform was developed by NMC IT officer Swapnil Lokhande.NMC recently reduced the response time from three hours to 30 minutes at each level. Complaints are automatically routed to the jurisdictional police inspector.Citizens can lodge complaints against DJs, loudspeakers, public events, construction and drilling, machinery, generators, firecrackers, unnecessary honking and modified silencers. They can upload photographs, videos or audio recordings and use the live decibel meter to capture the sound level.The portal records the complaint’s timestamp, GPS location and escalation history, allowing citizens and authorities to track its progress through a reference number.The early complaints come ahead of Ganeshotsav and the festive season, when the use of DJs, loudspeakers and other amplified sound generally increases.
