From The Hindu Archives, February 26, 1976 | Noise pollution in Madras: study findings

Madras, Feb. 25: A pilot study on “noise pollution”, conducted in four selected areas in Madras during peak hours, shows that the intensity of sound level is “highly irritating and uncomfortable” opposite the Anna Salai Post Office. However, the intensity of sound (73 decibels) registered in the areas falls well within the damaging noise level (85 decibels) and is lower than what is obtaining in other major cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. Frequent horning and engine vibrations, especially of motorcycles and scooters, are the loud irritants outside the Anna Salai Post Office. The area near the Central Station and the General Hospital comes second with 71 decibels, the Kothwal Market area third with 70 decibels and the Parry’s Corner fourth with no decibels. The study is part of a noise pollution survey in different parts of Madras, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Cochin, Mysore and Bangalore, sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology of the Union Government. A team of ENT specialists and audiologists of the Institute of Oto-Rhino Laryngology at the Madras Medical College and engineers of the IIT, which conducted the study with the help of sophisticated sound level meters and analysers and by interviewing the people, has expressed the view that unless the increasing noise pollution was checked, the continuous exposure of the residents in the area for a prolonged period may end in permanent irreversible hearing loss.