Mandai, Laxmi Road noisiest

PUNE: Four areas in the city - Laxmi Road, Mandai, Yerawada and Koregaon Park - registered a marked increase in noise levels on the day of Ganapati immersion, when compared to the levels recorded last year, the sound monitoring exercise carried out by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has found.

The multiple dhol-tasha teams accompanying Ganapati mandals during the procession, DJs and walls of sound boxes belting out songs at ear-splitting noise levels were the main culprits for the increase. Residents near the procession routes complained of vibrating window panes and even walls due to this noise.

As per MPCB figures, Laxmi Road and Mandai recorded the highest average noise levels on immersion day.

The average sound level recorded on Monday between 6pm and midnight at Shagun Chowk on Laxmi Road was 111 decibels as compared to 106 decibels recorded at the same spot last year. Similarly, the noise level at Mandai shot up from 101 decibels last year to 113 decibels this year. At Koregaon Park, the sound levels increased from 83 decibels to 97 decibels and at Yerawada it increased from 75 decibels to 88 decibels.

Most of the other areas in the city recorded either similar levels as last year or a decline in sound levels. Pimpri and Chinchwad, however, reported increasing sound levels at the four places where it was measured. Significantly, at Laxmi Road and Koregaon Park, it wasn't an increase in the maximum sound recorded, but higher sound levels recorded over the entire course of the evening that pushed the average up.

Meanwhile, a separate sound monitoring exercise carried out by students of the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) along Laxmi Road found the average sound level to be lower as compared to last year's figures. While the MPCB data was only collected between 6 pm and midnight, the CoEP data was collected over a longer period. According to Mahesh Shindikar, assistant professor in biology, applied science department, CoEP, it was a decline in the sound levels recorded between midnight and 4am on Tuesday morning that resulted in a lower average.

The MPCB sound-monitoring exercise is conducted over a larger area - at 15 places in the city and five others in the neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad areas.

The average sound level at Karve Road, Shaniwar Peth and Saras Baug remained nearly the same as last year. Shivajinagar, Swargate, Satara Road, Kothrud, Hadapsar, Parvati, Khadki and M G Road all recorded lower average sound levels as compared to last year. Though the overall average sound levels recorded this year were lesser than the previous year, the DJ and sound systems this year were significant contributors to the loudness.

Deputy commissioner of police, special branch, Shrikant Pathak, said that people were notified to stick to the prescribed decibel levels.

But if the noise levels were anything to go by, the restrictions were hardly followed by the mandals.

"Throughout Monday and even on Tuesday, we had to bear with the loud techno numbers that blared from the huge sound boxes piled atop one another. The noise levels were so high that the window panes and even utensils in the kitchen were vibrating," said a resident near Karve road.

Audiologist Kalyani Mandke said public address systems and loudspeakers are not meant to play music.

"The noise pollution during Ganapati celebrations, especially by the DJ and sound systems, have a long-term effect. The non-auditory effects include work and sleep patterns being disturbed for the next 12 to 13 days. Exposure to this kind of sound is risky especially for children and elderly citizens. It may lead to attention deficit disorder or restlessness in children below 10 years of age," she said.

Mahesh Shindikar explained that, apart from hearing loss, exposure to high levels of sound may cause psychological effects like irritability, uneasiness, depression and also physiological effects such as redness of eyes, headache and vomiting.