The highest noise level was recorded just minutes before midnight.
Mumbai saw noisier Diwali this year as compared to last year. This year the maximum decibel (dB) level that it touched when people celebrated the festival by bursting crackers was 117.8 dB as compared to 113.5 decibels last year. What was worse is that most crackers were burst between 10 pm to 1 am. In 2015, the highest recording was 123 dB but like all years, air pollution was still a worry said, activist.
Like last year, this year too the maximum noise level was recorded at Marine Drive where a number of people come to burst crackers. There is no relaxation on bursting crackers post 10 pm like the use of loud speakers even during the festival period. The highest noise level was recorded just minutes before midnight.
In residential areas, the noise level permissible is up to 55 dB before 10 pm and 45 dB after 10 pm. Commercial areas have a permissible level of 65 dB from 6 am to 10 pm and 55 dB from 10 pm to 6 am.
"When the chief minister said that citizens should not burst crackers, he should have told them to burst them before 10 pm. Across the city, people seemed to have burst crackers after 10 pm and it was consistently over 100 dB in areas like Marine Drive where a number of people come to burst them," said Sumaira Abdulali, convenor of Awaaz Foundation, which has been spearheading a fight against noise pollution.
The noise levels were high around the same time last year. Abdulali said that there were lesser people bursting crackers, some were of the opinion that the continuity of noise pollution was more. At no place in the city was the noise level within the permissible levels. Though the trend of no crackers being burst in the run-up to the festival and on the day of the festival remained low, noise and timing was a concern.
Abdulali said that most officers seemed to be clueless when asked about the deadline their seniors had asked to implement. "They did not seem to know about it," said Abdulali.
The activist said that the noise levels were also less because a number of crackers that had high decibel levels were detected during the test. "A number of them were detected during the test. Though we tested around 26, and atom bombs--a form of firecracker that makes a lot of noise-- were not used, there were others like traditional Anar (cracker having a floral burst when lit) that made noise. It is the pollution control and explosives department's job to check before they are sold in the market. One cannot expect an NGO to create awareness that explosives are bad for health. That should be done by the government. The government should be appealing to children to not burst crackers. Children are not mature to understand for the rest of life that there will be air pollution. The chief minister should announce such things," said Abdulali.
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