Time to Ban Noise Pollution in Cities Like Guwahati

In Assam, it has not been possible to convince the government that there is a great deal of noise pollution in cities like Guwahati and that this is doing a lot of harm to children and senior citizens. Despite quite a few editorials on noise pollution in The Sentinel it has not been possible to convince the bigwigs in the Assam government that noise pollution is indeed a form of harmful pollution and that it has very adverse effects on growing children and old people. The indifferent attitude of the Assam government to noise pollution is not entirely unexpected, because quite a number of vehicles that are responsible for noise pollution are those belonging to the Police department. Over the last few years, we have managed to tell the entire civilized world that the people of Assam are very fond of loud cacophonous noises, considering the kind of attachments people put in their cars to produce the most hideous sounds, particularly when they reverse their cars. By contrast, the Maharashtra government has stoutly defended all the measures that have been introduced in the State to combat noise pollution. The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that the DJ and other high-decibel audio systems were a major source of noise pollution and that their use during festivals could not be allowed. One can see how a better understanding of noise pollution can make the desired difference between an administration sensitive to such issues and one that is not. The Maharashtra government has determined that the maximum noise levels permitted under the rules for various areas range between 50 and 75 decibels during the day and between 40 and 70 decibels at night. These are limits that should serve us very well also, but we have noise polluters that go well beyond 100 to 150 decibels and strive to create a hell for children and senior citizens alike.