Silent zones turn noisy in Hyderabad

For the purpose of monitoring and enforcement, the areas of the city are divided into categories like - silent, commercial, residential and industrial, and permissible noise levels for each are assigned accordingly.

Hyderabad: Even the ‘silent areas’ of Hyderabad are not silent anymore. Of late, several parts of the city have been logging in noise levels that are beyond permissible limits and raising concerns about noise pollution. While the usually busy commercial areas are known for raised noise levels, the areas of the city which have been designated as ‘silent zones’ have started falling victim to increased noise levels.

For the purpose of monitoring and enforcement, the areas of the city are divided into categories like – silent, commercial, residential and industrial, and permissible noise levels for each are assigned accordingly.

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However, what once used to true reflection of silent areas is now increasingly getting drowned by the din.

The silent areas ceasing to be silent can now seen having noise levels, both daytime and nighttime, well above the permissible limits of 50dB and 40dB. In some of the silent areas, the daytime noise levels hover close to 60dB, and during the nights, it is approximately 50dB.

In both time periods, the levels are found to be at least 10dB above the acceptable limits. This is attributed mainly to the sharp increase in the number of vehicles on the city roads which end up elevating the noise levels considerably.

Some of the locations such as Jubilee Hills which in the last few years has gained repute as a bustling eat street, have the vehicles zooming in and out till late nights.

Despite the permissible noise level being 55 dB in the daytime, and 45dB at night, Jubilee Hills’ noise levels range in the 70s, going as high as 78.52dB in the daytime and 79.83dB in the nighttime in January, according to the data available with Telangana Pollution Control Board (TGSPCB).

The same data shows noise levels in commercial areas, except for Paradise, hovering close to the maximum permissible level of 65dB during the day, but at night zooming way above the recommended 55dB mark and breaching the 65dB mark multiple times. Paradise recorded noise levels upwards of 70 dB in both daytime and nighttime throughout the year.

Surprisingly, the industrial area was the only region that consistently registered scores below the maximum permissible limits. During the day, the noise levels were well below the permissible 75 dB figure, with Sanathnagar recording as low as 54.37 dB in March. The nighttime levels too were comfortably.

– By Dhruv Jetty