Nights as noisy as days,board works on plan

Among the recommendations are empowering traffic police with hand-held noise-monitoring device,nabbing noisy vehicles and revising the noise standards for old cars.

District Magistrates or Deputy Commissioners could also be linked with real-time noise level alerts on mobiles sent automatically from monitoring stations so that violators can be booked at once. The technology is being tested by CPCB scientists.

“For the first time we have the data to work out some realistic action for law enforcement agencies to check noise levels,” said a senior CPCB official working on the project.

As per CPCB studies,continuous,long-term exposure to noise affects the blood pressure,leading to cardiovascular ailments. It is also an irritant that causes partial deafness.

Data from the 35 automatic monitoring stations in Delhi,Mumbai,Chennai,Bangalore,Kolkata,Hyderabad and Lucknow show that in key public places,like around certain hospitals and institutions — supposed ‘Silence Zones’ — and commercial areas,the noise levels rarely come down below permissible limits,even at night. And in the day,they go as high as 93 decibels although the limit is 65.