Report on

NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

MANIPUR POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD IMPHAL WEST DC OFFICE COMPLEX LAMPHELPAT-795004

NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

INTRODUCTION Noise is unwanted sound and a dangerous pollutant that is hazardous to health. Ambient noise may be defined as all-encompassing noise associated with any given environment and usually a composite of sounds from many sources, near and far. Noise level may vary widely with time. Noise intrusions are characterized by their transient quality and they interrupt personal activities such as sleep, study, entertainment, relaxation and conversation. Noise is an environmental pollutant which differs from air and water pollutions as the two remain in the environment for extended periods. Noise is ubiquitous in the mechanical age and is a result of technology. It spreads both in the horizontal and vertical directions.

Noise magnitude is often measured in decibels (dB), a logarithmic scale in which each increase of 10 dB corresponds to a 2-fold increase in magnitude. 60 db is the normal conversation sound at a household. Television sound generates 70 dB, a continuous heavy traffic creates a noise level of 90 dB and taking off of an airplane generates 120 dB. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the effect of noise on human system can range from annoyance to problems with communicating to actual physiological effects. Noise above 80 dB may increase aggressive behavior. Prolonged or excessive exposure to noise, whether in community or at work, can cause serious medical conditions like hypertension and heart disease. Noise can adversely affect performance for instance reading, attentiveness and problem solving.

Deepawali, the festival of light, is celebrated every year all over the country. The festival is also celebrated with full pomp and gaiety in Manipur and like in other parts of the country the celebration is accompanied with the bursting of crackers, lightings and playing of loud speakers. In addition to the rise in noise level due to bursting of crackers, levels of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) in the ambient air also increase, which further deteriorate the ambient air quality. Noise generated from bursting of crackers during festive occasions becomes unbearable for several hours. In India, fireworks are generally exploded at short distances near the public and are a potential cause for hearing damage, physical injury and annoyance. Therefore, such type of celebration comes in the way of enforcement of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution for all citizens and people to live in peace and comfort and in an atmosphere free from pollution of any kind.

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NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

Manipur Pollution Control Board regularly conducts ambient noise level monitoring on Deepawali day. Thangal Bazar Area is selected as monitoring point due to the intensive celebration of the festival by the local and outsiders residing in the area.

Plate 1: Bursting of crackers during Deepawali, 2010

The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 was notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi on 14th February, 2000. As per Schedule annexed to the Rules, the ambient air quality standards in respect of noise for different areas/zones shall be as follows-

Table 1: Ambient air quality standards in respect of noise Area Code

Category of Area/Zone

Limits in dB(A) Leq Day Time

Night Time

(A)

Industrial area

75

70

(B)

Commercial area

65

55

(C)

Residential area

55

45

(D)

Silence Zone

50

40

Note: 1.

Day time shall mean from 6.0 am to 10.00pm.

2.

Night time shall mean from 10.0pm to 6.0 am.

3.

Silence zone is defined as an area comprising not less than 100 metres around hospitals, educational institutions and courts. The silence zones are zones which are declared as such by the competent authority.

4.

Mixed categories of areas may be declared as one of the four above mentioned categories by the competent authority.

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NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

The Noise Limit for fire-crackers vide MoEF Notification No. GSR 682(E), October 5, 1999 is as below:i.

The manufacture, sale or use of fire-crackers generating noise level exceeding 125 dB(A) or 145 dB(C)pk at 4 meters distance from the point of bursting, shall be prohibited.

ii.

For individual fire-cracker constituting the series (joined fire-crackers), the above mentioned limit be reduced by 5log10 (N) dB, where N=number of crackers joined together.

iii.

The Department of Explosives is the implementing agency.

METHODOLOGY Thangal Bazar Area in Imphal city was selected for 24 hours continuous ambient noise level monitoring. The area recorded the highest noise level on Deepawali in the previous years. The monitoring point was located at the front of Anand Continental Hotel. The monitoring of noise was conducted on the basis of the protocol for monitoring of Noise level during Deepawali Festival developed by Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi.

A type 1 Pulsar Sound Level Meter placed at a height of 1.2 m above ground level was used to monitor the ambient noise at the selected monitoring point. Equivalent sound level Leq is the level of that steady sound which over the same interval of time, contains the same total energy (or dose) as the fluctuating sound.

Leq=

N

10 log10 [F ∑10Li/10] i=1

Leq= Equivalent sound level in dB (A) F=

Fraction of time for which the variable sound pressure level persists

Li=

Variable sound pressure level in dB

N=

Number of readings 

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NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

Plate 2: A PULSAR Type 1 Sound Level Meter

DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA  Thangal Bazar is an important commercial area of Imphal city. Shops dealing in all kinds, popular hotels, schools, banks, etc. are located in the area. People from outside the state mainly reside in the area and therefore, the place is famous for various Hindu, Sikh and Jain Festivals. Deepawali therefore, is an important festival for the people residing in the area.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION   Table 2: Details of the monitoring spot Thangal Bazar Thangal Bazar 06/11/2010 (Deepawali) 09/11/2010 0 27.7 to 13.6 C 24.0 to 15.4 0C 90 to 83 % 92-88% 145 to 290 Deg. 190 to 140 Deg. 1.3 Km/h 1.3 Km/h 0.0 mm (no rainfall) 0.0 mm (no rainfall) Mainly clear sky Mainly clear sky

Station Date Temp R Humidity Wind Direction Wind speed Rainfall Cloud coverage

   

  

   

 

 

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NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

Plate 3: A busy Thangal Bazar Area on Deepawali, 2010

 

  Plate 4: A night view of Anand Continental on Deepawali, 2010

The following Table indicates the Ambient Noise level recorded in the area. The hourly variation is also represented by Figure 1 below. The highest noise level is recorded during 19.0 to 20.0 hrs (Leq= 81.7dB (A)) whereas, the lowest noise level is recorded during 2.0 to 3.0 hours (Leq= 42.0 dB (A)).

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NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

Table 3: Ambient Noise level during Normal Day & Deepawali, 2010 LOCATION: Thangal Bazar INSTRUMENT MAKE AND MODEL : PULSAR Type 1 Sl. Time Duration Normal Day No. (Hrs) Leq dB(A) Lmin Lmax Hourly 1 0.0 to 1.0 42.4 34.8 56.0 2 1.0 to 2.0 44.6 35.4 50.8 3 2.0 to 3.0 42.5 35.4 54.5 4 3.0 to 4.0 45.2 36.3 57.0 5 4.0 to 5.0 51.5 40.2 57.9 6 5.0 to 6.0 53.6 42.4 64.8 7 6.0 to 7.0 61.5 50.4 67.6 8 7.0 to 8.0 61.1 54.1 64.3 9 8.0 to 9.0 67.1 56.2 76.6 10 9.0 to 10.0 69.9 54.2 77.4 11 10.0 to 11.0 68.9 52.7 76.4 12 11.0 to 12.0 70.1 54.9 78.4 13 12.0 to 13.0 69.8 42.9 73.6 14 13.0 to 14.0 65.1 44.3 67.9 15 14.0 to 15.0 67.4 51.5 77.5 16 15.0 to 16.0 67.9 57.3 80.5 17 16.0 to 17.0 70.0 56.3 77.1 18 17.0 to 18.0 66.7 57.5 73.4 19 18.0 to 19.0 70.0 59.8 78.7 20 19.0 to 20.0 67.7 58.4 78.7 21 20.0 to 21.0 62.2 54.5 70.7 22 21.0 to 22.0 58.6 38.7 65.7 23 22.0 to 23.0 48.7 40.4 66.3 24 23.0 to 24.0 49.8 36.4 57.9

Deepawali Day Leq dB(A) Lmin Hourly 43.4 34.0 43.0 36.4 42.0 35.4 46.2 36.4 50.5 40.4 53.8 41.4 61.8 50.4 62.1 55.1 68.1 55.2 69.9 55.2 69.9 52.7 69.9 54.8 70.1 43.0 76.9 45.3 69.4 51.5 71.9 57.3 72.0 57.3 77.7 57.5 78.0 60.8 81.7 68.4 79.2 59.5 78.6 58.7 79.7 40.4 50.8 38.4

Lmax 57.0 53.8 52.5 57.8 57.9 64.7 67.5 65.3 77.6 78.4 80.4 80.5 74.6 78.9 77.5 79.5 78.1 83.4 88.7 86.7 86.7 88.7 82.3 57.9

Fig 1: Hourly variation of Thangal Bazar ambient noise on normal day and Deepawali, 2010

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NOISE LEVEL MONITORING OF IMPHAL CITY ON DEEPAWALI, 2010

DATA SHEET FOR AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL MONITORING ON DEEPAWALI DAY Location: Thangal Bazar Date: 06/11/2010 Noise Level Meter Make : Pulsar Model : Model 33 Serial No. : T229734 Calibration Result of Noise Level Meter Calibration 94 dB at 1KHz Initial 95.0 dB Final 94.3dB Sampling Rate Sl. No. Time Duration L equivalent dB(A) 1 18.00 Hrs to 19.00 Hrs 78.0 2 19.00 Hrs to 20.00 Hrs 81.7 3 20.00 Hrs to 21.00 Hrs 79.2 4 21.00 Hrs to 22.00 Hrs 78.6 5 22.00 Hrs to 23.00 Hrs 79.7 6 23.00 Hrs to 24.00 Hrs 50.8 Average L equivalent dB(A) (18.0 to 24.0 Hrs) 74.6 L max (18.0 to 24.0 Hrs) 88.7 L min (18.0 to 24.0 Hrs) 38.4

CONCLUSIONS Results of the monitoring of noise on Deepawali at Thangal Bazar area indicate that the level exceeds the prescribed desirable standards from 8.0 to 23.0 hrs. The noise level is higher than the noise level monitored on the normal day at Thangal Bazar especially from 7.0 am onwards. There is, therefore, the need to improve the measures taken by the district administration to control bursting of crackers during the Deepawali festival. The public must be educated about the dangers of noise. The initiative of the legislature and the judiciary for providing a “sound” justice needs to be appreciated.

References A Report on Ambient Noise Level and Air Pollution during Deepawali Festival 1997 and 1998. Central Pollution Control Board, 1999 Noise Pollution Regulations in India. , 2001. Central Pollution Control Board Pananjay,G.B.G. and Tiwari, K., 2007. Analysis of Noise Pollution near a Hospital in Dehradun. Indian Journal of Air pollution Control, VOL VII No. I Shukla, S.K. and Srivastava, P.R., 1992. Environmental Noise Impact Analysis. Common Publisher: New India

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