Driven by ceaseless, rampaging road traffic growth, vehicular noise pollution has hit pandemic proportions in Bengaluru. Yet, despite proven, serious health hazards, the City’s traffic, transport, and pollution control agencies are in no mood to kickstart an urgent, coordinated effort to pin down the honkers. Their collective inaction is deeply affecting thousands of schools, hospitals, and old age homes.
Alarming statistics
Here are some alarming statistics: During the 31 days of July, night time noise levels skyrocketed by a whopping 106% at RVCE Mysore Road Silence Zone, one of the city’s 10 Continuous Noise Monitoring Stations set up by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). The night time (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) noise limit is 40 dB(A)Leq, the weighted average of sound decibel levels on scale ‘A,’ relatable to human hearing. The RVCE station read 82 dB(A)Leq.
