NOISE MAPPING DURING DEEPAWALI FESTIVAL IN RAIPUR CITY OF CHHATTISGARH, INDIAVishal Kumar, A.V. Ahirwar and A.D. PrasadAbstract Noise pollution assessment and mapping is one of the outstanding tasks during the festivals which silently affect the health of human beings. Burning of crackers is part of celebration during the Deepawali festival which elevates the levels of noise in the ambient surroundings. This study is performed in order to monitor the levels of noise during the Deepawali festival at different zones of Raipur City. The observations were made by Sound Level Meter (SLM -100 Class II) for different time and locations. All the observations were taken during peak hours (16:00-18:00 for Silence, 18:00-20:00 for Commercial and 20:00-22:00 for Residential zone). Commercial zone showed maximum Leq (83.78 dB)in evening time before Deepawali due to rush of traffic however the levels showed decreased value (79.19 dB) on festival day. Consequently residential area had maximum levels (88. 36 dB) on festival day however all the four observations were above 80dB which is required to be control for benefitting the human health. Lastly silence zone also showed level (71.8 dB) on festival day. Noise distribution map has also been prepared which is showing clear idea of the noise levels at different zones during the Deepawali festival. From this study it is brought to the light that noise levels are at elevated side for all zones during the festival (Deepawali) hence mitigation is very much essential for saving people from the harmful effects of noise. |