Impact of Diwali Celebrations on Environmental Noise Pollution in India

The paper describes the noise monitoring data acquired from the pilot project on the establishment of National Ambient Noise Monitoring Network across the seven major cities in India for continuous noise monitoring throughout the year. The annual average \(L_{\mathrm{day}}\) (06–22 hours) and \(L_{\mathrm{night}}\) (22–06 hours) values observed for the 70 locations in India under study are analyzed for the day of Diwali festival. The ambient noise levels are compared to the recommended ambient noise standards of India. The comparison of noise levels observed on the day of Diwali festival with respect to previous month average noise levels shows that 54 sites (77.1%) registered an increment in \(L_{\mathrm{day}}\) of 0–10 dB(A), while 47 sites (67.1%) registered an increment in \(L_{\mathrm{night}}\) of 0–10 dB(A). It is observed that 11 sites (15.7%) out of the 70 sites under consideration met the ambient noise standards. The work ascertains the noise scenario during the Diwali festival in India and can be thus helpful for devising suitable strategies for controlling noise pollution at the noisy sites in future.