When law keepers break the law!

When law keepers break the law!

Mangaluru: Going back to the well-worn cliche of fence eating the crop, we come to the sterling example of the same, the Hat hill officers club at Ladyhill. Situated in the midst of the quarters for the govt. gazette officers which houses many top officials including those police, judges, revenue and PWD department, it should have been the epitome of observation of laws of the land. But, reality is to the contrary. Several times in a year functions are held here with the PA system going on at full blast, audience and the compere shouting at the top of their voices up to late hours in the night. What about the laws of the land and the supreme court judgment about noise levels? Well, it does not apply to any of them as they are all top officials answerable only to themselves. As a resident of a nearby flat I have spent many sleepless nights because of this revelry and complaints have been of no use. The police, when called, say that they will take action but as all know how can they dare to do that to a club where their top bosses are members and office bearers?

It is not that this is happening for the first time. This has been going on since quite long. Several times a year the club has its functions when the noise goes on at high levels but not very late into the night. I have complained to them a number of times about this over the telephone and had also mailed the president – who happens to be the Deputy commissioner of the district in an ex officio capacity! No wonder that the police do not have the courage to act!

On the intervening night of 31st December 2016 to 1st January, 2017 the revelry took a new turn by louder noise and high decibel music with shouting thrown in. This reached such levels that I could not stand it and called 100 the emergency police line and I was advised by the voice at the other end that permission had been given to have parties up to 1 am by the police commissioner himself. When I told them that it was subject to the condition that others should not be disturbed, he told me to go and request them to turn down the volume! Daunted by the prospect of going in the middle of the night to tell a group of drunken revelers to make less noise I told the police that it is their duty to stop it. They said that would be done but even after waiting for 15 minutes I called the jurisdictional police station at Urwa to complain and I was told that they had already sent someone to stop the noise! Since that did not happen even after 15 minutes I made it bold to go to the place record a few videos and take a few photographs.

While we cannot have objections to anyone’s celebrations the question is that whether any group can use a sound system at such volumes at night after 10 pm? The officers who should be a model of good conduct for all were blatantly flouting laws of the land by such behavior. It is not that this is happening for the first time, the disturbances have been there since several years several times a year with no one caring for the complaints and the objections of the neighbors. Now that I have decided to lodge a formal complaint about this matter we have to wait and see what is going to happen. The oddest part is that those residing in the quarters have not raised this issue of noise pollution perhaps scared of the higher officials at the top!

Narendra Nayak

• videos:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_XohG7Pgl4&feature=youtu.be
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpLnGF3oVIs&feature=youtu.be