Noise level control starts in Belgrade: 12 patrols, the measure is permanent, while fines will vary

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Starting today, all hospitality establishments in Belgrade can play music in gardens on weekdays until 10 pm, and on Fridays and Saturdays until 11 pm, while the city secretary for communal police affairs, Ivan Divac, notes that this is a permanent measure that will be valid in the capital and has nothing to do with the pandemic.

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Divac told K1 TV that noise has become a big problem in Belgrade, stressing that according to the new decision, hospitality establishments who want to have music inside their venues will have make them sound proof, so that they do not disturb people living in the immediate vicinity.

The decision on playing music does not apply to the bohemian district of Skadarlija, where only acoustic music is allowed, or to Ada Ciganlija and the river banks. "When it comes to Skadarlija, the rule is that there can only be acoustic music, so no speakers, microphones, and as for the river banks and Ada Ciganlija, they will continue as before," says Divac.

He recalled that acoustic zoning of the city is underway, where the zones that received the most complaints from citizens because of high levels of noise - will have a limit on the sound level at which music can be played.

"When the Law on Noise comes into force, the communal police will check with meters whether those measures are being respected," Divac said and urged citizens to be patient in the next month or two, until the law starts to be fully implemented.

Divac said that the Law on Noise will envisage various types of fines to hospitality establishments for non-compliance with regulations, while the communal police will have have the right to confiscate the equipment used to play music, but also to shut down the premises.

According to him, this evening strict checks of hospitality establishments are starting when 12 communal police patrols will be in Cetinjska and Zetska Street, in Skadarlija and other areas where citizens have been reporting high levels of noise.

"Only the playing of music in the open space is limited, music can be played inside the building if all the conditions of sound insulation have been met. Hospitality establishments must show solidarity with their neighbors," said Divac.

(Telegraf Biznis)