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. This affects our efficiency," said Dr Samir Joshi, professor and head ENT at Sassoon Hospital.

Though the levels have decreased over the past five years, they are still above the permissible limit.


In 2010, Sassoon Hospital recorded noise levels of 77 decibels, while Poona Hospital recorded 75 decibels. However, at the Pune university campus, which recorded noise levels of 65 decibels in 2015, there has been no decrease.


Sajeev Sonawane, head of the education department at SPPU, said, "The university has adopted virtual and smart classrooms now. These classes are recorded. The audio quality of these recordings suffers because of the noise. Classrooms are obviously disrupted because of incessant noise. Students suffer a lot because of this."


The ESR has suggested ways to contain the noise pollution. The measures are mostly for individuals and not for the PMC itself. The suggestions include conducting awareness campaigns, using earplugs and ear masks in areas with high noise levels, maintenance of cars, control over usage of fireworks and loudspeakers, and keeping volume of home appliances like TV and music systems low.


(Ashay Kapse)

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