Board exams: Over 6,500 'loud noise' calls to UP 112 since Dec, Noida 2nd on list

Noida: There have been 6,558 complaints to emergency service UP 112 about 'loud music' in over two months, with maximum calls being received from Lucknow followed by Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Varanasi, official data showed.

While sharing the data, UP 112 appealed to citizens to inform it about noise pollution considering that lakhs of students are writing their board exams in February and March. In December, 1,558 complaints of loud music were logged by UP 112. The figure was recorded at 1,415 in January and 3,585 in February (till February 15), the data showed.

Official statistics showed more complaints were received from big cities. State capital Lucknow topped the chart with 739 events in 75 days.

Second on the list was Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) with 734 complaints followed by Ghaziabad (590), Kanpur (376) and Varanasi (331) during the period.

The smaller towns remained much quieter than big cities. For instance, UP 112 received just three such calls from Shravasti, 10 from Auraiyya and 12 each from Etah and Kaushambi districts during the period, according to the data.

"If there is noise beyond permissible limits and it is disturbing citizens or disrupting studies of students, one may call UP 112 and police response vehicles would be sent immediately to bring the noise under control. We are striving to provide the best environment to citizens, particularly students taking their board exams," Additional Director General (ADG) of Police Neera Rawat told PTI.

UP Police's dedicated facility 112 was launched to subsume the roles of helpline numbers 100 (police), 101 (fire) and 102 (ambulance) during emergencies, providing citizens with one-stop solution round-the-clock.

In 2023, the 112 helpline received 68.71 lakh calls while the figures stood at 70.60 lakh in 2022 and 66.87 lakh in 2021, showed the data accessed by PTI.

The state-wide emergency service has a total of 4,800 Police Response Vehicles (PRVs), of which 3,200 are four-wheelers and 1,600 are two-wheelers.

The fleet includes 316 PRVs with female personnel responding to emergencies, an official said.

Currently there are 31,200 personnel in UP 112 who are on duty on the PRVs, excluding those on desk duties, the official added.