Little noise about noise pollution

Business Line
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Oct 08, 2002

Little noise about noise pollution

P. P. Sangal

Apart from causing hearing impairment, noise pollution can play havoc with the nervous system, affecting the physical and psychological behaviour of the individuals. But the Noise Pollution Rules seem to be observed more in the breach, with implementing authorities unwilling to interfere with cultural celebrations.

NOISE pollution, unlike air, water, land/soil pollution, is not taken seriously in our country. It appears that control of noise pollution remains a domain of the developed West. It is due to our sheer ignorance about the hazards of noise pollution.

The main factors contributing to noise pollution are vehicular traffic, industrial activities, various electrical appliances, sources of entertainment such as blaring musical systems, TVs, public address systems, running trains and air traffic, splutter of gensets every time power breaks down, and so on. It is mostly the people living in metropolitan cities or other big towns or those working in factories who are victims of noise pollution and it affects the rich and the poor alike. While the problem is on a much smaller scale in small towns and villages, those residing or working in buildings along the main highways or close to railway tracks are also affected to a great extent.

According to a study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, exposure to noise pollution exceeding 75 decibels (db) for more than eight hours daily over a long period of time can cause loss of hearing due to destruction of hair cells of the inner ear and also the sensitive nerve fibres. The hazard increases with the intensity of the noise and the period of exposure. The sound produced by a bursting cracker, exceeding 150 db, can cause a ringing sensation called `tinnitus' and can impair hearing permanently, according to ENT specialists. The study also reveals that about 1 per cent of the population suffers from noise-induced pollution. There is a hearing loss among 43 per cent of the workers at Bokaro Steel Plant, Durgapur. But, who cares?

It is just not hearing at risk. Noise pollution can play havoc with the nervous system, affecting the physical and psychological behaviour of the individuals. It may cause nausea, vomiting, pain, hypertension, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. A survey of more than 1,000 people in Kolkata, carried in 1998, revealed that 28 per cent suffered from hypertension and irritability caused by traffic noises. Similarly, a study by the Post-graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chennai, confirmed that in 50 per cent of the industries, workers exposed to higher intensities of sound are short- tempered with tendency to even disrupt production.

Noise pollution may also cause insomnia and impair sexual performance and also learning ability in children. Unborn children are at risk too if they are exposed to high level noise during pregnancy as it affects the immature `cochlea' — the spiral cavity of the ear. Babies born to the weavers are a case in point. Such babies are hard of hearing because they are exposed to the loud clacking of looms long before they take birth.

Studies in the US have shown that in case of a disc jockey at a night club, working four-hour shift only three days a week for 10 years, there is a 40 per cent chance that he will not be able hear a normal conversation. A voluntary organisation `Mumbai Grahak Panchayat' working for noise pollution has discovered that the average of deafness in India has gone down from 70 years to 50 years now. Is it not alarming? Many such studies by reputed agencies can be quoted.

It must be known that noise levels in residential areas should not exceed 55 db. But the noise levels generated by various sources, which matter in our daily life, are much higher. For example, a telephone bell rings at 70 db, TVs produce 70 db, vacuum cleaners produce noise at 80 db, vehicle noise goes unto 90 db, motor bikes produce 110 db at acceleration, amplified rock band has a noise level of 120 db and a jet air plane takes off at 140 db. Thus, we are constantly being harmed by noise pollution... silently.

A study by NEERI has revealed that noise levels in residential, commercial and industrial areas and silent zones of Delhi and priority towns of NCR far exceed the standards prescribed by CPCB. The average noise level in Delhi is 80 db in excess of recommended 55 db.

Despite so many dangers of noise pollution, The Environment Protection Act (1986) made just a passing reference to noise pollution. Although a notification was further issued in 1989 on ambient air quality standards vis-à-vis noise, but it hardly made any impact on controlling noise pollution. Fourteen years later in February 2000, Ministry of Environment and Forests woke up to the dire need for regulation and formulated the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules. The salient features of these rules are that the State governments, being the implementation authority, should initiate the process of controlling noise pollution by classifying the areas into residential, commercial, industrial and silent zones. The rules further provide that the governments should ensure that the noise levels do not exceed the prescribed limits. Although these rules are used by the judiciary to pass orders in cases where there is a violation, the implementing authority consider it politically incorrect to interfere with the cultural and religious celebrations. So, of what use are these rules.

In view of the above grim scenario, it is necessary to think of some measures to curb noise pollution. Some of the suggestions are as under:

Provide green cover along the main roads, railway tracks, and so on. Provide thick foliage between road dividers. To abate noise pollution by honking of vehicles, they should be compulsorily fitted with the type of horns as specified in the CMV (Rules) of 1998. The violators should be prosecuted and punished but till date no such action seems to have been taken. Roads with high intensity of vehicular movement should be made of porous asphalt, as done by the Netherlands, for busy roads carrying more than 35,000 vehicles a day. All factory workers should wear earmuffs. Public awareness about noise hazards to be created through TVs, popular seminars and simple published material. Noise pollution to be introduced as a subject in schools. The administration should implement, without fear, Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000. Non-implementation of court orders, in respect of violators of the above rules, by the executive should be treated as contempt of court. The airlines should conform to noise regulations by using hush kitted or new generation aircrafts to reduce noise levels around airports. If we are serious about controlling noise pollution, we have to create awareness among the masses about the resulting hazards and trauma to their health due to noise. There is no cure for noise-induced permanent deafness and so the only choice is to prevent it through awareness. Regulatory authority can achieve precious little on their own as our past experience with industrial pollution has also shown. It is the community power that has helped in combating industrial pollution as brought out in the World Bank report entitled `Greening Industry: Communities, Markets and the Governments'. Some competent NGOs must take on the task of abating noise pollution by generating people's movement. Religious functions and the like should be no reason to cause noise pollution, as observed by the Supreme Court of India. (The author, a former Director of CSO, is a consultant on environment and poverty alleviation.)