{"id":268272,"date":"2023-11-07T19:30:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=268272"},"modified":"2023-11-09T13:39:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T08:09:53","slug":"on-noise-pollution-due-to-firecrackers-more-light-less-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/on-noise-pollution-due-to-firecrackers-more-light-less-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"On noise pollution due to firecrackers \u2013 More light, less sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: <\/strong>This post on noise pollution due to firecrackers has been created based on the article \u201cMore light, less sound\u201d<\/strong> published in The Hindu<\/strong> on 7th<\/sup> November 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Environment \u2013 Environmental pollution and degradation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

News<\/strong>:\u00a0This article discusses India\u2019s noise pollution regulations in light of the rising challenge of noise pollution in India, especially due to firecrackers.<\/p>\n

What are the regulations regarding noise pollution?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000<\/strong> under the Environment Protection Act 1986<\/strong> mandate that firecrackers cannot be used in \u2018silence zones\u2019<\/strong>, and anywhere after 10 PM.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From 6AM to 10PM, firecracker noise cannot exceed 75 dB<\/strong>. The thresholds in commercial and residential areas are 65 dB and 55 dB, respectively.<\/p>\n

The rules allow people to register a complaint if the noise overshoots by 10 dB during daytime. An increase of 10 dB implies a 10-fold increase<\/strong> in acoustic pressure.<\/p>\n

What are the issues with loud noise?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Noise pollution is a public health crisis. Research has found links between loud environments and sleep disorders<\/strong>, stress, anxiety, hearing loss, and cardiac health<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

More than 80 dB in offices has been associated with hypertension<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Above 50 dB<\/strong> at night, when the body is unaccustomed to loud noises, could increase cortisol levels (\u2018stress hormone\u2019).<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the causes of noise pollution?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Horn usage: <\/strong>Traffic noise has increased in cities where haphazard development has forced motorists to overuse horns.<\/li>\n
  2. Religious occasions: <\/strong>For instance, during Deepavali, firecrackers (even \u2018green\u2019 ones) routinely produce more than 90 dB of sound.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What are the issues with noise pollution regulation? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Demarcation of zones: <\/strong>Different loudness zones are also seldom publicly demarcated. Some places are both residential and commercial.<\/li>\n
    2. Ambiguity of rules: <\/strong>The rules are unclear about the sanctions to be meted out to offenders.<\/li>\n
    3. Lack of enforcement. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What should be done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Governments must prevent the production of firecrackers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      Cities must improve public access to noise data<\/strong> and adopt noise mitigation targets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      In 2018, CSIR launched less harmful and less noisy \u2018green\u2019 crackers, whose use various statutory bodies have mandated.<\/p>\n

      Terminology used:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Silence zone: <\/strong>It is usually defined as\u00a0areas around premises such as hospitals, educational institutions and courts. These are designated by State governments.<\/p>\n

      Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Environmental pollution is negatively impacting the quality of life as well as public health in India. Discuss in light of the growing challenge of rising noise pollution in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Source: This post on noise pollution due to firecrackers has been created based on the article \u201cMore light, less sound\u201d published in The Hindu on 7th November 2023. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Environment \u2013 Environmental pollution and degradation. News:\u00a0This article discusses India\u2019s noise pollution regulations in light of the rising challenge of noise… Continue reading On noise pollution due to firecrackers \u2013 More light, less sound<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[59,216,10498],"class_list":["post-268272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-environment","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1699388585},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}