PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Nov 6: Diwali celebrations in the steel city crossed permissible noise levels this year, revealed a decibel survey carried out by the Adityapur-based regional office of Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB).
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) limits noise levels to 65 decibel during day and 55 decibel during night in commercial areas.
Several places including Bistupur and Sakchi recorded levels above the prescribed limits during the 8pm to 10pm window and also after 10pm as per the report of the Adityapur-based regional office of Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) that had compiled noise data before Diwali (October 29) and on Diwali (November 4).
Of the six zones in and around the steel city surveyed by the regional office of the pollution control board on Thursday night, the decibel meter read the maximum at Bistupur near the vehicle testing centre, a commercial zone in the heart of the city.
Pollution norms went for a toss and pledges were mocked as Bistupur recorded 85.3 decibel (dB) between 6pm and 9pm on Thursday.
Giving tough competition to Bistupur was Sakchi, another commercial hub which recorded 85 dB near the main roundabout.
Silence zone like the 10m radius around Tata Main Hospital recorded 74.3 dB while the new court area in Sitaramdera recorded 83.8 dB while S-Type in Adityapur recorded 81.4 dB, much above the notified norms.
Indira Chowk, a residential area in Adityapur recorded 77.3 dB.
Regional officer of JSPCB, Jitendra Singh said they collected decibel data from Sakchi and Bistupur as they are commercial areas, from new civil court in Bhuiyandih as it is a silence zone and from Indira Chowk (in Adityapur) as it is a residential area.
He said the survey team used portable noise meter to take the readings in each place at an hour’s interval.
“The objective of the decibel survey was to collect data and spread awareness about the ill-effects of noise pollution, ” said the regional officer adding that the report will be sent to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for necessary action.
The regional office of JSPCB also carried out an ambient air quality check in Jamshedpur and Adityapur on the day of Diwali whose report is awaited.
