Bengaluru: The ever increasing vehicles on the road, use of loudspeakers during festivities and other religious activities have pushed up noise pollution levels in various parts of the city, with Hosur Road and BTM Layout being the worst hit.
NIMHANS, which comes under silent zone, has in September recorded the 68.5 dB during daytime, when it should be within 50 dB, and 63.0 dB during night, when it should be within 40 dB.
Mahesh Kashyap, a visiting scientist at Indian Institute of Science, said, “The average noise levels have jumped more than 40% from June to September at NIMHANS. Though the monitoring system is located away from Hosur Road, at the backside of RGICD, still it is showing high numbers. It could be even worse if it is located close to Hosur Road.”
Kashyap added that the monitoring system installed at Nisarga Bhavan is not exactly a residential area, though it is designated as one. In the month of September, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) said the noise level at the area is within limits.
“System at Nisarga Bhavan, S.G.Halli is not exactly in a residential area. The system is located next to the CPCB building away from the main road with very few residential buildings around it,” he added.
“Ministry of Environment and Forest develops the standards and the state boards such as KSPCB have to implement them. One is not sure if the state boards are consulted when the standards are developed. There should be a background document how the standards were developed,” Kashyap remarked.
If the average noise monitoring data of the past six months (April to September) is taken into account it can be inferred that 33% (one third) of the average data is below the limits for both day and night time.
BTM Layout which is a residential area witnessed a steep rise in noise levels from 5.8% (daytime) in April to 24% in September. However, the industrial area in Whitefield and Peenya were quiet.
