Firecrackers cloud air and ears in Bengaluru

Noise pollution in most areas of Bengaluru has risen slightly above last year’s levels, with the average decibel readings over the past three days increasing from 72.65 to 74.57. However, Dasarahalli and Vijayanagar in Bengaluru West remained exceptions to this trend.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s standards, the noise level in residential areas should not exceed 55 decibels during the day, and commercial areas may go up to 65 decibels, balancing health and human activity concerns. Data from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) indicates that during the three days of Deepavali in 2022, most parts experienced higher noise levels than the average.

Sarjapur topped the list of polluted areas, with noise levels decreasing slightly from last year’s 86.2 to 84.6 decibels. It was followed by Anekal at 80.8 decibels, Yelahanka at 80.5, Mahadevapura at 72.8, Indiranagar at 72.1, Peenya at 69.8, and Jayanagar at 69.2.

Rest of Karnataka

In Vijayanagar, the average noise level over three days decreased from the previous year’s 75.4 to 56.7 decibels, while Dasarahalli witnessed the most significant drop from 83.5 to 55.3 decibels. The highest noise levels in these 10 areas were recorded on November 12 and 14.

Outside of Bengaluru, Mangaluru recorded the highest average noise level over three days at 81.3 decibels, exceeding last year’s figure of 73.2 decibels. This was followed by Hassan at 79.2 decibels, Kolar at 78, Udupi at 77.4, Belagavi at 75.1, Chikkaballapur and Davanagere both at 74.8.

Kodagu stood out by maintaining an average noise level of 48.2 decibels over three days, improving upon last year’s already commendable performance of 51.5 decibels. The other districts recorded noise levels ranging from 55 to 70 decibels, with some noting a marginal decrease.

A KSPCB official noted that the data would not indicate the real difference in environmental noise in the residential areas. “Most of the KSPCB monitoring stations are located in spots where the devices pick up traffic noise. That doesn’t accurately measure the environment noise in a majority of the residential areas which witness a multi-fold increase in decibels due to the bursting of crackers. In fact, more than five stations showed a decrease in noise pollution compared to the pre-Deepavali day because the traffic on the festival day was not high. The approach to monitoring needs to be relooked,” he said.