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Contents
What is the News?
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a report titled ‘Frontiers 2022: Noise, Blazes and Mismatches’. The report measured noise levels in 61 cities of the world.
What are the key findings of the report?
Noisiest City: All the top three noisiest cities are from South Asia. Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka is the noisiest city in the world, with a noise level of 119 decibels (dB).
India: Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the second noisiest city in the world.
Other Indian cities which recorded a higher decibel than the permissible levels were Delhi (83 dB), Kolkata and Asansol (both 89 dB) in West Bengal and Jaipur (84 dB).
Quitiest City: The report found that Irbrid (Jordan) at 60 dB is the world’s quietest city in the world, followed by Lyon (France).
What are the permissible sound levels?
According to the WHO’s recommendations, the permissible noise level limits are 55 dB for outdoor residential areas and 70 dB for commercial areas and where there’s traffic.
WHO says that a sound with noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time can increase the risk of hearing loss.
What are the suggestions given by the report to reduce noise pollution?
Vegetation in urban environments should be done, as it absorbs acoustic energy and diffuses noise.
Green spaces, courtyards and quiet urban parks offer relief from noisy places and benefit our mental well-being.
Indirect measures such as reducing available driving space by increasing the number of cycle lanes can reduce road traffic noise.
Also, low-emission zones encourage electric mobility, which reduces noise and improves air quality.
Source: This post is based on an article “UP’s Moradabad world’s 2nd noisiest city on UN list, 4 more Indian cities exceed noise levels” published in The Print on 27th March 2022.
