India, April 25 -- After becoming the first city in Maharashtra to have DJ-free Ganesh festival celebrations, Solapur has also now become the first city in the state to have loudspeakers removed voluntarily from religious places across the district. Marking a milestone in the city's efforts to curb noise pollution while also maintaining communal harmony, a total 938 unauthorised loudspeakers were removed from religious places across the district by the Solapur rural police.

A month-long drive was launched after the Hindu festival of Ram Navami during which noise levels from loudspeakers across religious places were monitored, and the concerned authorities were then instructed to remove the unauthorised loudspeakers from their premises. T...