Noise levels along Laxmi Road — the main route for the Ganesh immersion procession — crossed the 100 decibel mark on Anant Chaturdashi for the second consecutive year since the Covid pandemic. While the average decibel level recorded was 101.5dB this year, it was 105dB in 2022. The noise levels recorded in the last two years are comparatively higher than the readings recorded in the pandemic years. In 2020 and 2021, the decibel levels were less than 60dB — within the permissible limits. The College of Engineering Pune Technological University has been monitoring sound levels for the last 23 years on Anant Chaturdashi — the final day of the 10-day Ganesh festival when immersion processions are taken out — along 10 spots on the Laxmi Road. As per the CoEP report, the highest noise level was 129.8 dB recorded at Khandojibaba chowk on Laxmi Road around 8pm on Thursday. Mahesh Shindikar, HOD of Applied Sciences and Humanities at CoeP Technological University and his team of students has been conducting the sound monitoring exercise at 10 locations along Laxmi Road . This year, they conducted the exercise on September 28 and 29. The sound levels are recorded using spatiotemporal and scientific detectors. The levels were monitored at 12 noon , 4pm, 8pm and midnight of September 28 and at 4am and 8am on September 29. Almost all the ten chowks along Laxmi Road have recorded an average of more than 100 dB. Noise levels have been attributed mainly to traditional instruments such as dhol tasha played during the immersion procession, apart from the DJ. Noise has been recorded as an ambient air pollutant and rules have been laid down for acceptable levels during the day and night time. In industrial areas, the permissible limit is 75dB for daytime and 70dB at night. In commercial areas, it is 65dB and 55dB while it is 55dB and 45 dB respectively in residential areas. "Whether the decibel levels measured 101 or 105 doesn't matter as average noise levels crossed 100 dB mark, which is way above the permissible limits. This just indicates that we do not want to follow rules related to noise pollution," professor Mahesh Shindikar told The Indian Express. Not just the CoEP sound monitoring data but even data from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), which monitors sound levels on five important days of the festival at various locations across the city, indicates that noise levels exceeded permissible limits on all five days when they recorded the readings. Nitin Shinde, sub-regional officer of MPCB- Pune, told The Indian Express that the repeated appeals to ensure compliance to environmental rules fell on deaf ears as noise levels at 18 important locations in the city crossed the permissible limits on the final day. "On the final day, we recorded average noise levels between 70-96dB at most of the selected locations. Laxmi Road and Mahatma Phule Mandai recorded an average 96.23 dB," said Shinde.
