The Impact of Noise Pollution

The situation of noise pollution is becoming dangerous due to industrialization and urbanization
Not only air and water pollution on earth, noise pollution has also become a major cause of crisis.  Recently, the annual report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has come out.  According to this report, Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh in India has been described as the second most noise pollution city in the world after Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.  Moradabad is among the top eight cities in the world where the average noise level has reached above one hundred decibels.  In Dhaka the noise level reaches up to one hundred and nineteen decibels during the day, while it is recorded at one hundred and fourteen decibels in Moradabad, located on the banks of the Ramganga river.
The list also includes cities such as Kolkata and Asansol (nine decibels), Jaipur (eight-four decibels) and Delhi (eighty-three decibels), where noise frequencies have been found to exceed the World Health Organisation’s prescribed standards.  Significantly, in its guidelines issued in 2018, the World Health Organization had issued different parameters for different sources of noise pollution during the day.
According to this, the noise level during the day in road traffic should not exceed fifty-three decibels, fifty-four in rail transport, forty-five decibels during the operation of airplanes and windmills.  The noise above this is considered very injurious to health.  Obviously, rising noise levels are a sign of great danger, which cannot be ignored any longer.
The situation of noise pollution in fast growing cities on the path of industrialization and urbanization is becoming dire day by day.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise has become the second largest environmental cause of health problems after air pollution.  The high frequency sounds emanating from the transport and industry sectors are making people untimely ill.
This is having an effect on life expectancy.  Many cities of the world are deeply affected by noise pollution.  In New York City, for example, nine out of every ten commuters on public transportation are exposed to noise above the set limit of seventy decibels.  At the same time, more than seventy two percent of the population of Barcelona city of Spain is suffering from noise level higher than fifty-five decibels.
A fifteen-year study on residents of the Canadian city of Toronto found that exposure to road traffic noise increased people’s risk of heart disease and the incidence of diabetes by eight percent and high blood pressure by two percent.  increased by.
With every decibel increase in noise during the day in many cities, the risk of heart diseases is increasing manifold.  For the global population already suffering from air, water and soil pollution, tackling noise pollution is no less than a challenge.  Noise pollution arises from roads, railways, airports, industries and large events.
Generally in cities where there is more traffic and industry, noise pollution has taken the form of a permanent problem.  But now even the villages are not untouched by it.  The use of agricultural plants in villages and sound devices like TVs, mobiles and loudspeakers have affected the ‘hearing’ of the villagers.
Loud, light and melodious sound is an important and valuable part of everyday life.  But when the ambient sound turns into noise, it starts adversely affecting our mental and physical health.  Noise pollution is increasingly viewed as a top environmental risk and public health burden across all age groups and social groups.
It is such a serious environmental and invisible threat that it is affecting some parts of our body as well as mental health.  Unwanted and unpleasant noises can disturb and make us stressed.  This disturbs sleep and makes it difficult for people to sleep.  Hearing of loud sound weakens our hearing and leads to deafness.
According to the United Nations, about 1.5 billion people around the world are currently living with hearing loss.  At the same time, a report by the World Health Organization shows that by the year 2050, one out of every four people in the world, or about twenty-five percent of the population, will be living with some degree of hearing loss.
Indeed, the adverse effect of noise on public health is a growing global concern.  Sounds of eighty-five decibels or more are believed to cause damage to a person’s ears.  Exposure to loud noises can increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Children, the elderly and pregnant women are most affected by this.  Loss of memory, trouble concentrating, and studies and writing are also common due to living in high-noise areas.  People who stay in such areas for a long time, they start speaking louder than before and they also start having trouble hearing low sounds.  This has a negative effect on their body and mind.
Tinnitus, also known as ringing in the ears, is a common disease caused by noise pollution.  The human ear is unable to hear audio (frequency less than twenty Hz) and ultrasonic (frequency more than twenty thousand Hz) sound.  The constant high frequency in the ears weakens the eardrum of children.  Continuous exposure to noise for eight hours a day can cause permanent hearing changes in children, including the inability to hear certain frequencies.
Increasing noise not only affects the animals living on land, but has also emerged as a major problem for marine life.  In fact, the noise of ships, underwater drill machines, sonar equipment and seismic tests have also destroyed the peace of the marine environment.  Due to this, marine organisms, especially mammals, have to face many problems.  The vibrations produced by the noise make sea creatures uncomfortable.
Control of noise is also necessary so that the earth can be saved from another disaster and the life of all living beings can be protected.  In order to preserve biodiversity, it has become very important to control it.
Of course, the government has been making efforts to control noise pollution, but until the society does not come forward, this problem will not end.  There has to be a sense of responsibility towards the environment within everyone, only then this earth will be able to live again.
Under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules-2000, the use of noise generating devices, bursting of loud crackers, playing horns on the streets and use of musical and musical instruments at loud noises is prohibited.  Along with this, the noise level has been fixed at seventy five decibels in industrial areas, sixty-five in commercial areas, fifty-five in residential areas and fifty decibels in quiet areas during the day time in this law.  If we stop making noise at our own level then the whole environment can be free from noise pollution.