All the ‘noise’ making Hyderabad a sleepless city

Hyderabad is fast moving to achieve the tag of 'the city that never sleeps', if the noise levels recorded during the nights are to be considered

Hyderabad: Days are noisier and nights are tranquil. That was once upon a time. Hyderabad is fast moving to achieve the tag of ‘the city that never sleeps’, if the noise levels recorded during the nights are to be considered. With an evolving lifestyle, rapid changes in the work culture along with social life undergoing a metamorphosis, night-time in the city is logging in higher noise levels.

In fact, a perusal of data generated by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) reveals that some parts of the city have started to record higher noise levels during the night than in the daytime! Conventionally, for the study and monitoring of pollution, higher decibel levels are considered acceptable for the day, when the city is active and functioning, and the bar is lowered for the night when the city is expected to be asleep.

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According to the PCB data, the Jubilee Hills area which is dotted with a host of eateries and leisure spots, comes more alive during the night time. Classified as a residential area, which as per norms has a noise standard of 45 decibels during the night (between 10 pm to 6 am), the place has consistently been recording much higher noise levels, with Friday night logging in at 72.53 dB. Interestingly, the daytime noise recordings in Jubilee Hills on the same day stood at 69.51 dB.

Following the tracks of Jubilee Hills are the locations such as Tarnaka, Abids and vicinities of JNTU where the night noise levels are vying to cross the daytime recordings. Meanwhile, it’s a seesaw between night and daytime noise recordings at the Nehru Zoological Park.

Experts in environment studies point at the shift taking place in contemporary lifestyle — professional, personal and leisure — as the causative factors for changes in environmental parameters. “The days of human habitations being active in the day and resting in the night are over. There is a dramatic shift in the way people lead their lives, right from their work to socializing to how they spend their leisure time,” said an environmentalist.