Noise level of loud speakers at religious places beyond permissible limits in Pb

Noise level of loud speakers used by religious places in some villages in Punjab was found more than the permissible limits, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) today said.

The PPCB teams conducted the measurement of noise pollution level around gurdwaras, temples and mosques during 4 am to 6 am, he said.

The noise monitoring was carried out at the boundary wall at 50 meters, 100m and 200m distance from the religious place and it was found that the noise level at the boundary wall was 60 to 88 dB. At 50 meters it was 53 to 87 dB, at 100 meters it was 50 to 72 dB and at 200 meters it was found to be between 52 to 70 dB, which was much above the permissible limit of 45 dB, Kahan Singh Pannu, the chairman of the board, said.

As per Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 the permissible noise limits during night hours (10.00 pm to 6.00 am) in residential areas is 45 dB.

He said that these higher values clearly indicate that use of loud speakers in the villages have adverse ill-effects on the human health like fatigue of the hearing or auditory sense organs, deafness, annoyance, hypertension, change of the rate of heart-beat, vertigo and cardiovascular effects, etc.

Pannu appealed to the managing committees of Gurdwara, temples and mosques to act as per their legal, religious and moral responsibilities to keep the noise pollution within permissible limits.