Noise menace in silent zones
PUNE: Hospital and educational institutions, where silence is really golden, are surrounded by noise at all times of the day, official data shows. The civic body's Environment Status Report (ESR) 2015-2016 says that the city's silent zones are anything but that. Pune Municipal Corporation has declared 1,195 silent zones in the city, of which 687 are schools, 230 are colleges, 201 hospitals and 77 are courts. The ESR says that the area around Sassoon Hospital has a noise level of 60 decibels, while it is 65 decibels around Pune University. The permissible limit for silent zones is 50 decibels as per Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) guidelines. The noise level at Poona Hospital was close to the permissible limit at 51 decibels, while Naidu Hospital recorded an average of 55 decibels. "We had to relocate our OPD due to noise from the adjacent road. Irritability, confusion and lack of concentration can increase in both doctors and patients due to noise pollution...