BMS Hospital says BBMP asked them to cooperate for three days since it is a popular festival.
People at Kadelekai Parishe were seen blowing whistles, disturbing the patients at the nearby Bhusanayana Mukundadas Sreenivasaiah (BMS) hospital and the residents of Basavangudi.
Kadalekai Parishe, also known as the annual Groundnut Festival, is being celebrated in Bengaluru from more than 400 years. The fair is held for two to three days near the Bull Temple in Basavanagudi. The legend behind this festival is that a raging bull used to damage the groundnut crops every year. In the 16th century, an idol of the bull was found in Basavanagudi and Kempe Gowda built a temple around it. Since then, before the fair starts, the farmers offer special prayers and hold pooja at the Bull temple and offer their first groundnut crop to the bull temple.
Umesha M, General Manager of BMS Hospital, Basavanagudi said, “Visitors blow whistles at the fair because they are coming here to enjoy, but it is very disturbing for us as well as the patients. So, this time we complained about it to the Bhruhat Bangalore Mahanagare Palike (BBMP) but instead they sent us a letter, asking us to cooperate since the festival is just for two to three days.”
The priest at the Bull Temple said, there is no significance attached to people blowing whistles, and they just do it for fun. He said although it causes a lot of disturbance, it is okay since it is a very grand festival of Bengaluru.
K. Mohan, a 62-year-old patient at the BMS Hospital said, “The noise is very irritating. People should think about before making so much noise at the fair as there is a hospital nearby. We have to bear this noise for three days and that too for the whole day. It is difficult to sleep in such situations.”
He also added, “A fair can be enjoyed even without blowing whistles, so that nobody gets disturbed.”
L. A. Ravi Subramanya, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Basavanagudi Constituency said, “The hospital rooms are enclosed and there will be some disturbance, particularly during the evenings. The localites also face problem due to this. We try to avoid it, but it is beyond control because everybody wants to enjoy the festival. More than 500 BBMP personnel have been assigned there but it is very difficult for them to handle because if they stop one side of the crowd from blowing the whistle, then the other part of crowd will start doing it.”
Rajkumar Dugar, Founder and Convenor at Citizens for Citizens (C4C) said, “People should be made aware of ill-effects of noise pollution. Particularly, they should be made aware that an area of 100m around Hospitals is a Silence Zone.They are liable to be penalised if the sound from their whistles crosses permissible limits. Concerned citizens, especially those from the affected surrounding area, should step forward during the fair and organise awareness campaigns. Holding suitable placards, and talking to those who blow the whistle as well as to influencers should be done. After sufficient awareness and acceptance by general public, if the practice continues, police should step in and seize the whistles as a first step.”
