Bengaluru: KSPCB to map noise pollution hotspots

Rohith BR / TNN / Feb 19, 2020, 07:11 IST

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The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will soon conduct a noise pollution mapping survey of Bengaluru city to identify hotspots where the levels exceed safe limits. The board will later prepare and submit an action plan to control and mitigate noise levels to the Central Pollution Control Board.

Bengaluru: KSPCB to map noise pollution hotspots

Representative image

BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will soon conduct a noise pollution mapping survey of Bengaluru city to identify hotspots where the levels exceed safe limits. The board will later prepare and submit an action plan to control and mitigate noise levels to the Central Pollution Control Board.
The move comes in the backdrop of a directive from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) last year to CPCB to prepare a noise pollution map of the country.

The CPCB later identified Bengaluru and 45 other cities for the mapping drive.

Times View

Noise pollution mapping survey is one of the many steps that have to be taken to bring some sanity back into our chaotic cities. Next are monitoring measures and the resultant penalties that will need to be stringent enough to act as strong deterrents. Mumbai police, for instance, recently introduced the ‘honk more, wait more’ system at select traffic signals to punish noise-makers. But what is really needed is a shift in attitude, driven by a concern not just for oneself, but also for others. This basic awareness could be the most impactful in turning down decibel levels.

H Lokeshwari, chief scientific officer, KSPCB, said vehicular engines, horns and loudspeakers contribute the most to noise levels in the city. “Prescribed levels are exceeded at most of the 10 ambient noise level monitoring stations in the city. Noise level mapping is the need of the hour as the city has grown rapidly and we need a comprehensive analysis to understand the actual number of hotspots which need attention,” she added.

Lokeshwari said the mapping exercise would begin in a few weeks.
Another senior official in KSPCB said as part of monitoring measures, hand-held noise-level meters are being provided to 108 law-and-order police stations. “These meters help cops measure the noise level at a particular area, whenever they receive complaints from the public. Soon, we will be announcing designated officers at the pollution control board, with whom citizens can lodge complaints about noise pollution,” he added.

Sources in the environment department said the state pollution board is lagging in preparing noise pollution map. “In March 2019, the NGT directed CPCB to develop noise pollution map of the country and identify city-specific hotspots for remedial action plan. In fact, Bengaluru was part of the initial list of seven cities, where maximum violations of prescribed limits were observed. We hope the board fast-tracks the noise mapping project,” said the sources.
Worse during night
A recent analysis by TOI showed that noise pollution during night hours has become worse in the city and the decibel levels not only exceed prescribed norms, but also daytime noise levels.

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