Noise pollution touched a new high this Ganesh festival with levels not only surpassing those recognised by the WHO, but also exceeding last year’s noise levels.
According to activist Sumaira Abdulali, on the final day of the 10-day long Ganesh festival, the noise level reached an all time high of 121 decibels (dB).
“A noise touching 121.4 dB was recorded from a tasha (a metal hammer) beaten on a metallic plate and amplified through cone shaped loudspeakers. Drums reached about 115 dB and disc jockeys between 95-113.6 dB. This noise level is significantly higher than the last year’s, and much higher than the prescribed safe levels,” said Ms Abdulali.
The WHO in their “Community Noise” report has mentioned that the threshold of pain for sound exposures in normal hearing persons is in the region of the sound pressure level of 110-130 dB.
On Saturday, between 9.45 pm till midnight at Girgaum Chowpatty and Opera House Junction, the noise level was in the range of 92-121.4 dB.
Outside Jaslok Hospital, which is a silence zone, noise levels reached 100 dB at 102 dB courtesy drums, loudspeakers and firecrackers. Silence zones at Worli, Mahim and Dadar witnessed a similar situation.
“Since 2003, I have been recording noise levels during various events. This is the first occasion, when I actually experienced temporary loss of hearing after being exposed to distressingly high and continuous noise. I also witnessed infants being exposed to these same noise levels,” added Ms Abdulali.
Spokesperson of the Mumbai police, Nisar Tamboli said, “We are yet to collate data and information from all police stations.”