After Diwali free run, noise demon returns to haunt Kolkata on Friday
Times of India | 2 November 2024
12 Kolkata: If Diwali night allowed the noise demon to rear its ugly head, there was no stopping it even on Friday.
The firecracker revelry continued on Friday night with the same gusto and intensity of that of Diwali night. WBPCB received 10 complaints from across the city. But the noise hot spots remained the same as that on Thursday night. The revelry started at around 9 pm and continued beyond midnight, leaving a thick blanket of toxic smoke and pushing the AQI further up.
Though the city was less noisy on Friday compared to Thursday, for residents of multiple trouble areas like Kasba, Garfa, Dhakuria, Jadavpur, and Behala in the south and Phoolbagan-Ultadanga in the north, there was no comfort. As the night progressed, the noise levels escalated, with even sensitive areas such as RG Kar Hospital.
"I take sleeping pills each night. Yet, I couldn't sleep. On the night of Diwali, the torture continued till 3 am. On Friday, it started from 8 pm," said Rupsa Saha, a resident of an apartment beside Manipal Hospital at Dhakuria. On Friday, cops detained another 15, especially from the added areas.
The statistics, collected by the PCB and NGOs, backed the claim. The noise pollution levels across Kolkata consistently exceeded permissible limits across various zones, with several locations surpassing the acceptable night-time decibel standards. Hospitals, designated as ‘silent zones', are supposed to maintain noise levels below 40 dB at night. However, even these zones were not spared on Diwali night. At RG Kar Hospital, noise levels reached 72.7 dB at midnight. SSKM recorded 58.2 dB around 12:30 am.
Between 1 am and 2:30 am, Kasba continued to record the highest level, with sound peaking at 103.2 dB around 2:20 am. In Salt Lake, the noise level was 57 dB, in Tollygunge 73.4 dB and in Bagbazar 78.5 dB during this time. Even in quieter hours, such as 4:10 am, Bagbazar registered noise levels at 70.9 dB, and at 5:30 am.
On Diwali, Kolkata Police arrested 601 and 265 of them were held for bursting illegal crackers. Bidhannagar Police, too, prosecuted around 60 from Lake Town, Baguiati, Narayanpur, Salt Lake, and New Town and seized around 800 kg crackers. Lake Town, Bangur Avenue and Baguiati were among the worst zones in respect to noise pollution.
Noise levels remained high across much of Kolkata until early Saturday morning despite official assurances of stricter enforcement against high-decibel crackers.