Loudspeaker usage by street vendors becomes major noise pollution in Baramulla

Baramulla, Feb 24: A new trend of using loudspeakers and megaphones among the street vendors across Baramulla district has irked the residents here. The residents have expressed their discontent over the use of such a mechanism by the vendors as it causes severe noise pollution, besides affecting the students as well as elderly patients.

Scores of shopkeepers besides the pedestrians in the Baramulla town said that these street vendors play the megaphones with pre-recorded messages disturbing people around.

They said the worst is when these megaphones play uninterruptedly for hours without vendors caring for the people around them. They said despite urging them not to play the megaphones continuously, they don’t pay heed to their pleas.

“This is causing immense inconvenience to us,” said Bashir Ahmad, a shopkeeper on tehsil road Baramulla. “The noise pollution created by these vendors is intolerable. They should not be allowed to continue such a practice which affects other people.”

Another shopkeeper, Ali Muhammad, said that sometimes these vendors leave their cart unattended for hours but the pre-recorded messages continue to play through loudspeakers, causing huge inconvenience to people.

It is not only the markets which are facing onslaught of such a trend, the residential areas too across the district are facing similar inconvenience caused by the vendors who play pre-recorded messages on megaphones without any break.

Muhammad Ashraf, a resident of Noorbagh Baramulla, said that such a practice by the street vendors is causing severe inconvenience to students as well as patients, especially elderly people who are facing different health related issues. He said these street vendors start playing megaphones without any break once they enter a residential colony.

“Despite requesting them not to play megaphones continuously or run it in intervals, they don’t pay any heed and even sometimes it leads to heated exchange of words,” said Muhammad Ashraf.

Similar misuse of megaphones and loudspeakers by the street vendors is reported from apple town Sopore. The residents here said despite warning from the Municipal Council authorities last year to these vendors, they continue to play pre-recorded messages through loudspeakers and megaphones, thus affecting the normal life of common people.

“After formal complaint by the residents of Sopore town, the Municipal authorities here warned the street vendors to desist from such a practice, otherwise their carts and the articles will be seized. However there has been no letup in the illegal use of loudspeakers and the megaphones by the street vendors with the result common people here face immense inconvenience,” said Bilal Ahmad, a resident of Noorbagh Sopore.