Loud DJ: Noisy music in processions causing cardiac arrest, deaths is a major cause of concern

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

NewsBits.in

BHOPAL/LUCKNOW: A seven-year-old girl, a boy and a girl studying in college died as a result of loud music that was being played in their vicinity. 

These are separate incidents but it was the loud music played by moving 'DJ procession' that was responsible for each of the death. 

In UP, a girl who was student of Class II, died due to loud music played by DJ sound system. The girl was 7-year-old Vaishnavi, daughter of Sonu Tiwari. She was in school when the DJ playing extremely loud music, passed by. 

She collapsed and was rushed to hospital but was declared dead. This incident occurred in September 2026. The High Court took cognizance and said that despite the laws against sound pollution, violation of norms is still on. 

Earlier, a 13-year-old boy died in Bhopal in similar circumstances. The boy, Samar Billore, was was watching the DJ procession, near his house when he fell and was declared dead. The incident occurred in October 14, two years ago. Heart failure was said to be the cause behind his death.

The high beats and sudden loud music led to the victims collapsing due to the extremely high sound. They couldn't be resuscitated. Clearly, laws exist but failure to enforce them, has led to deaths in different regions of the country. 

In the recent incident, a girl in Madhya Pradesh died in similar circumstances--Pratiksha collapsed after she heard the extremely loud noise that came out of the DJ music played as part of a religious procession. 

Such was the impact of the music that she fell down and went unconscious. The girl was rushed to the hospital but the doctors found no pulse and declared her brought dead. She hailed from Betul in Madhya Pradesh.

Her family was shocked and have rued that she lost her life due to ‘music’ that was well past the decibels as per the guidelines. 

A student of BSc first year, she was on the college premises when this incident occurred. She had come to the campus to see the idol.  Her sister who accompanied her, told authorities that the DJ was playing music at such a level that was uncomfortable and Pratiksha fell down. She was taken to hospital but couldn't be resuscitated as she had already died due to the shock. 

This incident occurred when the idol was  being taken for the immersion in the evening. Her family demanded strict action against those who were playing the sound system at such a high volume. Meanwhile, a complaint has been lodged in this regard with the National Human Rights Commission, seeking its intervention in the matter. 

The plaint says that due to the excessive noise the girl fell down as she couldn't bear the shock due to the sound and later lost her life. "The incident once again shows negligence because sound was played at a volume which the human body is unable to bear". 

The complainant, Advocate Deepak Bundele mentioned that the safety of a citizen should be a major concern for authorities. "It is a violation of the right to life and the right to a healthy living in the society", Bundele further wrote. He said that even if college or the students had organized the event, it was responsibility of the staff and organizers to ensure that the sound was within the reasonable limits. 

The minors, youths and even elders are vulnerable as the impact of the sound system is such that it impacts the heart. The affect is apparently most on those who already have a cardiac issue. 

In fact, in the past, when families complained to organisers of a procession or requested to lower the volume, this was not heeded and it resulted in the death. In an incident, the victim's mother said that her child had a heart ailment but no one listened when she asked to slow down the volume a bit.