Noise levels breach standard limits across Ghaziabad and Noida on Diwali
In Ghaziabad, residents of trans-Hindon areas celebrated the festival of Diwali in a more noisy manner with the average decibel levels on the day of Diwali being recorded at 78.5 decibels(dB), as compared to 74.5dB in cis-Hindon (city) areas.
The noise levels during the festival of Diwali this year surpassed the standard limits in all residential, commercial and industrial areas of Ghaziabad and Noida, owing to the heavy and continuous bursting of firecrackers by residents, officials of Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said on Wednesday.
In Ghaziabad, residents of trans-Hindon areas celebrated the festival of Diwali in a more noisy manner with the average decibel levels on the day of Diwali being recorded at 78.5 decibels(dB), as compared to 74.5dB in cis-Hindon (city) areas.
The noise levels on pre-Diwali and Diwali were monitored at two locations, Vasundhara and Model Town, by UPPCB this year. Both sites are residential areas and the trans-Hindon segment include localities of Indirapuram, Vasundhara, Vaishali and Sahibabad, among others.
The figures recorded by the UPPCB for pre-Diwali day reveal that Vasundhara was less noisy, with average noise levels at 57.3dB (61.5dB in 2022) while the festivities reached a crescendo on Diwali day causing a new high of 78.5dB.
Last year, the noise levels on the day of Diwali were higher in cis-Hindon at 75.9dB, while trans-Hindon remained less noisy at 72.6dB.
“The average noise levels were recorded at two residential locations. The higher levels were due to bursting of crackers and trans-Hindon recorded a higher noise level,” said Vikas Misra, regional officer of UPPCB, Ghaziabad.
According to norms of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the standard noise level limit is 65dB during the day time and 55dB during night hours in residential areas.
The standard limit is 55dB (day) and 45dB (night) in commercial areas and 75dB (day) and 70 (night) in industrial areas.
In Noida, the state pollution board measured noise levels at four locations – sector 1 (institutional/industrial), Atta Market (commercial), sector 62 (commercial/residential) and sector 112 (residential).
The noise levels on Diwali day stood at 73.1dB, 76.51dB, 62.9dB, and 75.7dB, respectively, for the four areas on Diwali.
“The levels remained higher than the standard limits in residential, commercial and industrial areas on the night of Diwali. This was primarily due to bursting of firecrackers,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, UPPCB, Noida.
The residents said bursting of firecrackers spiked the pollution levels and also brought in its wake health complications.
“The bursting of firecrackers started at least 2-3 days before the festival and I suffered severe cough and fever on account of this. I had to stay indoors on Diwali day and the crackers were burnt till 3-4am and also continued from the evening of the next day,” said Mohan Sangwan, resident of Indirapuram.
