Noise standards

Panel to ensure compliance should help in execution

The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT’s) decision to increase the penalties for violating noise pollution norms in Delhi is a good step to rein in this rapidly escalating menace. Equally significant is its counsel to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to apply the same deterrents in other parts of the country. The revised penalties entail fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh, seizing the noise-making equipment, and a jail term of up to five years. This move is, in fact, part of the slew of initiatives taken by this quasi-judicial body in the recent past to combat noise pollution, which is exacerbating due to inadequate mitigation effort. The Supreme Court and some high courts have several times slammed the civic authorities of big cities and state pollution control boards for their inaction on this front. But this has been of little avail. These bodies continue to either overlook the infringements of the prescribed levels of noise or leave the violators after issuing inconsequential warnings. Penal action is rare. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the NGT has set up a committee headed by a retired judge of the Delhi High Court to oversee compliance with noise standards. 

Major sources of noise in urban areas are loud music, transport (road, rail, and air), industries, construction activity, electric generators, bursting crackers, and indiscriminate use of loudspeakers at socio-religious gatherings. Prolonged exposure to sounds louder than 80 decibels, even if it is music, can impair hearing and lead to temporary or permanent deafness. In fact, high-pitched music in cars and restobars is emerging as a key cause for ear-related ailments among the youth. Excessive noise can also cause hypertension, heart problems, neurological disorders, sleep disturbances, and stress. In workplaces, high-decibel sound can hamper employees’ concentration, affecting their efficiency and output. The permissible levels of noise at different places have been capped at below 80 decibels. These limits are: 55 decibels during daytime and 45 decibels at night in residential areas, 75 (daytime) and 70 decibels (night) in industrial belts, and 50 (daytime) and 40 decibels (night) in silence zones around hospitals and educational institutions. However, the noise level at most of these places usually far exceeds these norms. The facilities to regularly monitor the noise are sparse. Though a National Ambient Noise Monitoring Network was established in 2011 in seven mega cities — Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Mumbai — only 70 monitoring stations have come up till now. These are gravely inadequate for the task. 

Since noise pollution by and large have the same sources as other kinds of pollution, it needs to be treated on par with them in terms of deterrent and punitive action. Creation of mass awareness about the ill effects of noise on human health has to be the first step towards combating noise pollution. Sound-proofing and sound-muffling mechanisms need to be deployed to mute noise under different situations. Restricting horn-honking and encouraging proper maintenance of vehicles can reduce the din on city roads. One of the NGT’s numerous recommendations which are yet to be implemented is that the noisiness of vehicles should also be checked while issuing the pollution control certificates for them. This needs to be enforced without delay. The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, should guide the anti-noise pollution drive.