Decibel Shield
Noise ordinances › India › Pune
Noise rules in Pune: the limits, who enforces them, and how to complain
Pune follows India's national noise rules: 55 dB(A) by day and 45 at night in homes, night being 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. A 2024 Green Tribunal judgment directs Pune police to prohibit DJ systems in Ganesh immersion processions, and Maharashtra's rules set silence zones of 100 metres around schools, courts and hospitals. Complaints go to the police on 100 or 112, anonymously if you wish.
Last updated:
The limits
The decibel limits are national, set in the Schedule to the Rules; Maharashtra's job is to classify each locality into one of the four zones and to enforce them. The full text, the night restrictions and the complaint rules are on the India noise rules page.
| Area code | Category of area/zone | Day time | Night time |
|---|---|---|---|
| (A) | Industrial area | 75 | 70 |
| (B) | Commercial area | 65 | 55 |
| (C) | Residential area | 55 | 45 |
| (D) | Silence Zone | 50 | 40 |
Who enforces the rules in Pune
Maharashtra Environment Department Government Resolution (GR) No. ध्वनीप्र-२००९/प्र.क्र.९५/तांक-१ of 21 April 2009 (hosted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board) names the authorities for enforcing the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 across the state, so it applies in Pune. Among them are the District Magistrate and Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Revenue); the Police Commissioner or any officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (Home), who is responsible for further legal action on violations; municipal commissioners (Urban Development), whose urban local bodies must demarcate silence zones; and MPCB officers. In Pune City, noise complaints go to the Pune City Police: an undated notice on the Pune district (Collectorate) website, listed on 27 March 2018, states that a Home Department notification of 14 July 2015 authorised police-station officers in charge across Maharashtra for noise control, and a Pune City Police notice digitally signed on 24 September 2026 names a noise-pollution nodal officer for each of the 44 police stations on its list. MPCB's FAQ sends non-industrial noise complaints to the police and industrial noise to MPCB.
"Police Commissioner or any other officer not below the rank of the Deputy Superintendent of Police designated for the maintenance of Ambient Air Quality Standards, as mentioned in the Rule 2(c) of Noise Pollution( Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. [...] The Police Authorities will be responsible for initiating further legal actions in respect of the violations.."
Source: mpcb.gov.in
How to complain about noise in Pune
- Dial 100 or 112 (Pune City Police control room). The Pune City Police website lists its control room as 100/112 in its header and footer (English 'Control Room : 100/112'; Marathi 'नियंत्रण कक्ष : १००/११२'; read 2026-10-02). Under the Bombay High Court's 2016 Bedekar judgment (described under the local orders below), oral noise complaints may be made on 100, anonymously, and police must visit the spot and stop illegal loudspeaker use. (punepolice.gov.in)
- Your police station's noise-pollution nodal officer (Pune City Police, September 2026). A Pune City Police notice, listed on its Citizen Alert Wall as 'Nodal Officer for Noise Pollution' and digitally signed on 24 September 2026 by the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), Pune City, appoints a nodal officer, jurisdiction-wise, for action under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 in the Pune City Police Commissionerate, and asks citizens with a noise complaint to contact them. The list covers 44 numbered police stations (Samarth to Lohgaon; a few have two officers) and gives each officer's name and mobile number. It is also posted as press release 13830 (https://admin.punepolice.gov.in/files/PressRelease/13830.pdf, byte-identical). Our translation of the Marathi quote: Nodal officers have been appointed jurisdiction-wise as below for action regarding noise pollution under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 within the Pune City Police Commissionerate. Citizens are therefore appealed to contact the nodal officers named below if they have a complaint regarding noise pollution. (admin.punepolice.gov.in)
- Telephone 100: Bombay High Court direction on noise complaints. Direction (vii) of the Bombay High Court's judgment of 16 August 2016 in Dr. Mahesh Vijay Bedekar v. State of Maharashtra (PIL 173 of 2010), which applies across Maharashtra, from the copy hosted by MPCB. The National Green Tribunal's 2024 Pune judgment (local rules) recites the same direction. (mpcb.gov.in)
- Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (industrial noise only). MPCB's FAQ splits noise complaints: industrial noise goes to MPCB, non-industrial noise to the Police department. (The quote flattens the FAQ's two-column Concern / Agency table; the cell text is verbatim.) (mpcb.gov.in)
Under Rule 7 a complaint can be made when noise exceeds the zone limit by 10 dB(A) or more, or when a night-time restriction is broken. A reading from the free online decibel meter, taken with A-weighting over a full minute and noted with the time, helps describe the problem. It is an uncalibrated estimate of about ±10 dB, not evidence on its own; the authority measures with a calibrated instrument.
Local orders in Pune
Ganesh festival in Pune: National Green Tribunal limits on loudspeakers, DJ ban in immersion processions, live noise displays
Ruling on an application by a Pune resident, the NGT's Western Zone Bench (Pune) issued directions to be followed for the Ganesh festival in Pune from 2024 onwards. MPCB must run real-time noise monitoring at a minimum of 3 locations in or near each Ganapati pandal and display the previous day's levels with the limit and the mandal's name at each pandal; during immersion (visarjan) processions it must monitor noise in real time at major traffic junctions and show live levels, with the limit, on digital displays. The police, with MPCB, decide each mandal's total loudspeaker capacity (the judgment says 'say maximum 100 W'), based on nearness to schools, hospitals and homes, and may relax it depending on the location and size of the pandal. The police must notify that the 'Toll' (a metallic high-noise unit) and DJ systems are prohibited in immersion processions. The judgment also capped dhol, tasha and zanj troupes in immersion processions at 30 members each, but Pune City Police's guidelines for the 2025 immersion procession allowed troupes of up to 60 members. Violating equipment is to be seized and criminal law set in motion. Within seven days of immersion day MPCB must publish violators' names in two local newspapers and put details of the cases on its website for 90 days. The judgment also records an order of the Pune Collector dated 14.02.2024 allowing 'use of sound system from 06 AM to 12 PM (two hours exemption)' on six Ganesh festival days, 12 to 17 September 2024. A Supreme Court civil appeal, Yuva Vadya Pathak Trust v. Kalyani Mandke and Ors. (C.A. No. 10596 of 2024), with a stay application, was on the court's advance list of matters likely to be listed on 27 July 2026; the list does not name the order under appeal.
"which shall be immediately implemented/followed for Ganesh festival in Pune this year onwards: (I) MPCB shall carry out real time noise monitoring at minimum 3 locations in/near each Ganapati Pendal. ... (III) Police department in consultation with MPCB shall decide Total Capacity of loud speakers (say maximum 100 W) allowed in the case of each Ganesh Mandal based on location, considering nearness to school/hospital/residential complexes. ... (VI) Police Department shall notify that use of Toll (metallic high noise making unit) & DJ in Visarjan procession is prohibited."
Police-station officers in charge are authorised to act on noise (notice on the Pune district website)
An undated notice on the Pune district website (Marathi title 'ध्वनी प्रदूषण तक्रारी साठी नियुक्त अधिकारी', English listing 'Officers Appointed for Grievances of Sound Pollution', listed on 27/03/2018) cites the Bombay High Court's PIL 173/2010 directions and the Environment Department's designation of authorities, and states that a Maharashtra Home Department notification (No. डिआयएस 0910/प्र.क्र.434/विशा-1, ब, dated 14 July 2015) authorised officers in charge of police stations across the state for noise pollution control. It says officers of the Pune Police Commissionerate were authorised to receive public noise complaints and to make surprise visits during festivals and permitted entertainment programmes, and asks the public to contact them at once with any noise complaint. Its list of officers and phone numbers is out of date (it includes police stations such as Pimpri, Chinchwad and Bhosari that are not on the 2026 Pune City Police list); use the 2026 nodal-officer list instead. Our translation of the Marathi quote: Also, by notification No. डिआयएस 0910/प्र.क्र.434/ विशा-1, ब dated 14 July 2015 of the Home Department, Government of Maharashtra, the officers in charge of police stations in Maharashtra have been authorised for noise pollution control.
Bombay High Court: written permission for loudspeakers, toll-free and WhatsApp complaints, all religions
The 2016 Bedekar judgment of the Bombay High Court applies across Maharashtra, including Pune. It directs that loudspeakers and public address systems need written permission from the authority under the Noise Pollution Rules. It orders a toll-free complaint number in every town or city with a Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council, plus complaint by e-mail, SMS and WhatsApp, with a complaint register and complaint numbers. Police visiting a complaint must record the noise level with a meter in a panchanama. The judgment applies to festivals and places of worship of all religions. The NGT's 2024 Pune judgment held that these directions are still relevant and should have been complied with by now, recorded the applicant's statement that none had been fully complied with, and added Ganesh-festival directions of its own.
"Therefore, toll free number shall be provided by the State Government in every town or city having Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council to enable the authorities to receive complaints about the breaches of Rules in addition to usual and conventional modes. A facility shall be also made available to submit complaint by email, by SMS and by Whatsapp message."
Source: Bombay High Court, Dr. Mahesh Vijay Bedekar v. State of Maharashtra, PIL No. 173 of 2010 (A.S. Oka and A.A. Sayed, JJ.), copy hosted by MPCB, 2016-08-16.
Who enforces what: Maharashtra's 2009 GR on noise authorities and silence zones
The GR directs local self-government bodies to declare silence zones in urban areas at once, covering 100 metres around educational institutions, courts and hospitals, and to put up silence zone boards. It assigns noise enforcement roles to officers under the Revenue, Home (police), Urban Development (municipal bodies, and MMRDA/MSRDC/CIDCO), Higher and School Education, Public Health, Environment (MPCB) and Home (Transport) departments. Urban local bodies, in Pune the Pune Municipal Corporation, must demarcate silence zones and include a noise action plan, with noise monitoring and mapping, in their annual Environmental Status Report.
"The urban local bodies shall be responsible for demarcation of the silent zones as per the Noise Rules, 2000 and displaying the same adequately."
Silence zones
Maharashtra's 2009 GR directs local bodies to declare silence zones in urban areas at once, covering 100 metres around educational institutions, all courts and hospitals, and makes urban local bodies, in Pune the Pune Municipal Corporation, responsible for demarcating and displaying them. No official current list or count of Pune's declared silence zones was found on the PMC, Pune City Police, Pune Collectorate or MPCB websites.
"The urban local bodies shall be responsible for demarcation of the silent zones as per the Noise Rules, 2000 and displaying the same adequately."
Source: mpcb.gov.in
How loud Pune measures
MPCB's noise page (checked 2026-10-02) lists 2024 as the latest year of its Ganesh festival, Diwali and metropolitan-city noise reports, and each covers Pune. Ganesh festival 2024: 18 Pune locations were monitored on 7, 8, 11, 13 and 17 September 2024, from 6 p.m. to midnight each day, with pre-calibrated Type-II sound level meters outside pandals; the highest Leq was 96.90 dB at Laxmi Road on 17 September, the immersion (11th) day, followed by Shaniwar Peth at 96.30 dB, and the lowest was 64.8 dB at Koregaon Park on 7 September. Diwali 2024: eleven locations were monitored on 24 October (pre-Diwali), 31 October (Lakshmi Pujan) and 1 November; the report's Pune summary reads 'The noise level in Pune was recorded in the range of 56.5 dB(A) to 75.9 dB(A) at night and 68.4 dB(A) to 83.2 dB(A) at daytime', and the highest daytime level was 83.2 dB(A) at Laxmi Road on 1 November. Metropolitan cities 2024: five locations (Nucleus Mall, Pune University, Swargate, Hadapsar, Vishrantwadi) were monitored for 24 hours on 22 and 23 December 2024; the report's summary gives the highest daytime Leq as 80.7 dB(A) at Pune University and the highest night Leq as 65.5 dB(A) at Swargate.
Source: mpcb.gov.in
What is the noise limit in Pune at night?
In a residential area, 45 dB(A) Leq from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and 55 dB(A) by day, under the national Schedule that applies in Pune. Silence zones are held to 40 at night and 50 by day, commercial areas to 55 and 65, and industrial areas to 70 and 75.
How do I complain about noise in Pune?
Call the Pune City Police control room on 100 or 112. Under the Bombay High Court's 2016 judgment, police must act at once on oral complaints made on 100, and anonymous complaints must be accepted. In September 2026 Pune City Police also named a noise nodal officer for each police station; the list is on its website. Industrial noise goes to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.
Are DJs allowed in Pune's Ganesh processions?
A 2024 National Green Tribunal judgment directs Pune police to notify that DJ systems and the metallic 'Toll' are prohibited in immersion processions, and has the police and the pollution board set each mandal's total loudspeaker capacity. An appeal against the judgment has been filed in the Supreme Court.
More
- India's national noise rules, quoted from the CPCB text
- Noise rules in Delhi
- Noise rules in Mumbai
- Noise rules in Bengaluru
- Noise rules in Kolkata
- Noise rules in Chennai
- Noise rules in Hyderabad
- The noise complaints guide: what to log before you call
Read from official sources on 2026-10-02: the documents linked beside each statement, and the national Rules as published by the Central Pollution Control Board at cpcb.gov.in. A plain-language summary, not legal advice; the Rules, state notifications and court orders control.