We are constantly bombarded day and night by the noise on the road, workplace or home, etc. Constant honking on roads some even using pressure horns while others probably have their finger always on the horn button, noise from vehicle engines not to mention the motorcycles with silencers removed to announce their arrival. If this was not enough then we have the loudspeakers from religious places, in rallies, marches, and even the jagratas, DJ’s in marriages, which keep you awake through the night for a couple of days. All this leaves me to wonder whether God is listening or he has also gone deaf. This becomes unbearable when these things happen at the time of school, college, or during work-from-home situations. All this is compounded by the industrial noise created by the constant running of machines. Silent zones and no parking are there to be broken only.
In general, a human being can tolerate noise levels up to 85 db (Decibels) only and anything beyond it can affect productivity and quality of life. A decibel level of common sound above 80 is considered bad while above 100 to 120 db is termed uncomfortable. Regular exposure to noise can come out in the form of people being irritable, nervous, and face difficulty in taking decisions. Constant exposure of common sound above100 db may damage your ears and you may face difficulty in hearing.
There are 70 noise monitoring stations at present under the National Ambient Noise Monitoring network in seven states. The ambient noise level in these states showed that about 90% of states found noise levels beyond the acceptable limits on both day and night. This is a matter of serious concern.
Street noise is mainly associated with vehicular traffic and is hard to ignore and escape. The mean street noise level as per one study is about 74db with a range from 55 to 95 db and varies with the density of traffic.
Decibel (Db) is a relative unit of measurement corresponding to one-tenth of Bel (b). It is used to express the ratio of the value to a power or field quantity to another on a logarithmic scale. The logarithmic quantity being called the power level or field level. Near silence is 0 db but a sound measured at 10 db is actually 10 times louder and 20 db is 100 times louder than silence, a 30 db is 100 times louder than 10 db. The noise in an average bedroom is about 20 db, a fire alarm averages between 140 to 165 db, normal conversation is about 60 db and a rock concert averages 120db.
The Government has realized the importance of noise pollution enacted a new set of rules especially dealing with noise pollution entitled Noise Pollution (Prevention and Control) rules 2000 which deals especially with noise pollution in addition to the Air (Pollution Prevention, Control & pollution) Act 1981. These rules specify the limits of noise pollution in different areas like industrial, commercial and residential and specify the limit in db for each area for day and night separately and the punishment for violation.
In addition, silent zones are specified by each state which includes all areas that lie with 100 meters of the premises of schools, colleges, hospitals, and courts. The permissible limit in the silence zone is 50 db at day and 40 db at night with restrictions on the use of horns. The limits for domestic appliances lice AC, mixer, air cooler, and refrigerator are also specified. Daytime means 0660 hrs to 2200 hrs and night time means 2200 hrs to 0600 hrs. Loudspeakers and public address systems can be used after permission and not between 2200 hrs to 0600 hrs. In residential areas, the limit is 55 db at daytime and 55 db at night time whereas for commercial areas it is 65 and 55 db respectively. Strict fines ranging from Rs.10,000/= to one lac with an instrument being impounded is specified, which can be levied on the offender.
The district magistrate is the local authority to monitor, regulate and take action against the offenders which he fulfills with the help of police. A complaint to 100 or to the nearby police station is sufficient for the action.
This is a post written by RK Singh, Ex-Air Force Office who took premature retirement in 1993 and then helped in setting up several factories all over India. He is based at Noida and deeply into social service to help people in general who have legal issues or problems. He is a postgraduate in Physics from Allahabad University and Master’s in Defence Studies, Business Administration & environmental Sciences besides a Degree in Law. He has published 23 research papers and a number of articles.
