The Muslim community of Navi Mumbai has taken up an initiative to install sound control units in all the mosques of the city. The sound controllers will ensure that the sound emanating from the loudspeakers during azaan will be within the decibel norms stipulated by the Supreme Court.
The initiative was launched on Wednesday at Noor Masjid in Vashi Sector 9 in the presence of community members and senior police officials. The unit was tested at the mosque with mock azaan being played and the decibel level measured.
Ashraf Niyazi, who heads a mosque committee in APMC area, said, “With the units installed in our mosques, anybody can, at any time, check them and their functioning. It will also help the police, in case they receive any complaints from any source.”
The community got 50 sound control units which it will be distributing to the mosques in the city, while 100 more would be added.
Pashabhai, another community leader, added, “We have installed and tested the unit at Noor Masjid in Vashi before distributing them to other mosques. The mosque is in the silence zone and hence the limit has been set accordingly.”
Mohammed Sabeel, a Bengaluru-based supplier for the units, claimed that the sound control processors would not allow the volume of azaan beyond the permissible limits stipulated by the Supreme Court. The units’ control levels would be adjusted as per the zones in which the mosques are located and also the time of the azaan.
BM Siraj, a city-based developer who took the lead in the initiative, said, “Navi Mumbai has always been a peaceful city and the law-abiding citizens here have co-existed in communal harmony. The mosques in the city have installed loudspeakers as per the police permission and their sound levels are always within the specified limits. However, through a permanent fool-proof solution, we want to ensure that there is no controversy at all.”