LUCKNOW: Amid a raging political controversy over the use of loudspeakers at places of worship in Maharashtra, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday said it had removed nearly 22,000 unauthorised loudspeakers across the state.
As per data released by the UP government, 21,963 loudspeakers were uninstalled from religious sites of worship till Thursday evening.
Authorities have said that they are now firmly implementing an existing government order issued in 2018 and court orders.
The Yogi Adityanath government has launched a mega drive to ensure compliance of court orders. It has divided the action on two criterions – removal of illegal loudspeaker and bringing down volume of others under permissible decibel levels.
More than 42,300 loudspeakers across the state were brought under prescribed decibel limits, the government said.
District administrations have been directed to deploy force and take preventive measures to avoid any untoward incident during the campaign. Civil administration and police have conducted 29,808 meetings with religious leaders in a bid to maintain peace.
The government has deployed 46 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), seven companies of Central Armed Police Forces across the state to maintain peace. Four deputy superintendents of police and nearly 1500 trainee orders have also been pressed into service.
District administrations have identified 2,705 sensitive places across the state, including 2,846 places where namaz will be offered on Friday on the occasion of Avida.