If noise levels recorded at night are considered, Hyderabad is on track to achieve ‘city that never sleeps’
Release date – Monday 23 July 08:00
Hyderabad: It is noisy during the day, but quiet at night. That was a long time ago. If the noise levels recorded at night are considered, Hyderabad is fast achieving the title of “city that never sleeps”. With changing lifestyles, rapid changes in work culture and shifts in social life, nighttime noise levels in cities are increasing.
In fact, a closer look at data generated by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) revealed that some parts of the city have started to experience higher nighttime noise levels than during the day! Traditionally, for the study and monitoring of pollution, higher decibel levels during the day are considered acceptable when the city is active and functioning, and lower at night when the city is expected to sleep.
According to PCB data, the Jubilee Hills area is full of restaurants and leisure venues and gets even more lively at night. The area is classified as residential and by code the nighttime (10pm to 6am) noise standard is 45 decibels, and noise levels in the area have been consistently high, with 72.53 decibels recorded on Friday night. Interestingly, the daytime noise recorded at Jubilee Hill was 69.51 decibels on the same day.
Along the Jubilee Hills trail, nighttime noise levels are racing to surpass daytime records in places like Tarnaka, Abid and near JNTU. Meanwhile, there is a tug-of-war between nighttime and daytime noise records at Nehru Zoo.
Environmental research experts point to ongoing shifts in contemporary lifestyles (occupational, personal and leisure) as triggers for changes in environmental parameters. “The days when human settlements were active during the day and rested at night are over. There has been a huge shift in how people live, from working to socializing to how they spend their leisure time,” said one environmentalist.
