We went for a morning walk yesterday and ended up feeling less energetic upon returning from our walk than when we set out :). I was wondering why that happened and realised that it was the constant high decibel noise on the road. We were walking on the regular road, not a walking track or in a park.
On the way back we took an auto rickshaw as we had bought a few things at the super market. My friend Usha called up just as we got going. First, it was a surprise that I could hear the call through the din. It was an unbelievably noisy auto :(. As soon as I picked up the call, Usha asked me if I was in an auto.
The auto ride was all of five minutes but my ears were ringing for the rest of the day !!! Noise pollution is an unfortunate reality.
Noise Pollution
The first time we realised the problem of noise was in Bengaluru. Krishnan worked out of Bengaluru for a couple of years between 2007 and 2009. We rented an apartment on Coles Road. During the day it would be fine but as soon as we would try sleeping, the high speed bikes would start racing on the streets. Loud honking by cars and other automobiles combined with this bike racing would just not let us sleep.
Then we felt the noise levels in Hyderabad as Dr. A S Rao Nagar has become a “bustling++++” mini city. The traffic on the two main roads there reminds us of Chandni Chowk with the human traffic – you just can’t move an inch anywhere, you just have to position yourself in the right direction to be propelled forward by others :):).
Our house in Gurgaon is on the 12th floor and the entire condominium complex is set a little distance from the main road. We also changed the windows and doors to Tostem and Fenesta which cut out most of the sound. Despite all that we still heard the construction noise as an apartment complex came up near ours. But very little sound reaches inside the house during the night. That’s made us even more acutely sensitive to the noise levels in other cities.
Even inside our apartment in Gurgaon we still deal with Noise Pollution.
Chennai has another peculiar problem, the use of air horns, even though air horns are banned across India. I can never take an auto in Chennai because the noise levels are unbelievable.
Why Noise Pollution is Bad for You
As the infographic above says the side effects of Noise Pollution are quite severe but they are ignored by most of us because other ailments also have similar symptoms. One may have increased blood pressure due to excessive salt intake or obesity as well, but remember it could also be due to high decibel noise.
Stress, the modern man’s favourite state of mind (sarcasm intended) is also caused by noise pollution. You drive in traffic with horns blaring and sure enough, your stress levels increase.
Noise pollution is ofcourse caused by several factors, not just traffic or construction. Listening to loud music using a headphone or being in a pub or restaurant with loud music also causes all the above symptoms.
Steps to Minimise Noise Pollution
Some of the steps that we take or have taken in order to reduce the noise levels are as follows –
- We only use over the head, headphones. Old fashioned but the sound is not close to your ear drum. And we reduce the volume before starting the music or discourse, increasing it later as required.
- All the windows and glass doors at home are noise insulating or sound proof (not sure if this is the right word).
- In the car, we keep the volume low. Even on the highway.
- For meetings we use the external speakers and not headphones.
- If we find ourselves in a noisy restaurant, we generally step out and find a quieter one.
- Kitchen appliances like the mixie etc are moved into an open space before using so that the sound dissipates.
- The TV volume is also kept low and we turn on subtitles as required so that we can follow along. We DO NOT watch any news channel, especially Arnab where everyone is shouting at the same time.
As a country we need to change our outlook and reduce the noise levels significantly. Don’t like the tag of a Noisy country…
Do listen to this birdsong as you start your day ! Visit our YouTube channel for more such videos. May the day be noise pollution free and may you hear the sounds of nature all around 🙏🏿