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Category: Asia Noise News
“Noise is more than just a nuisance. It constitutes a real and present danger to people’s health. Plenty of medical data is also available to suggest that noise has several ill-effects, which are unseen and hence unnoticed,” recorded a Supreme Court judgment on July 18, 2005.
Sixteen years after the law was enacted under Noise Rules, 2000, that demarcated permissible limits for residential areas and silence zones, a latest study by the Central Pollution Control Board found that noise rules continue to be flouted in all major cities – the maximum in Mumbai.
Regular noise monitoring between 2011 and 2014 at 35 locations across nine metropolitan Indian cities found that noise at four out five stations at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane exceeded permissible limits set by the law (See box).
According to experts, motor vehicles, horns and sirens used during construction is the most common source of noise pollution in Mumbai. Movement of aircraft and trains, and industrial machinery are major sources of noise, as are outdoor appliances such as generators and indoor appliances such as and air-conditioners.
“In cities like Mumbai with tall buildings, narrow streets and heavy traffic, the noise reverberates and its impact is manifold. We also observed an increase in noise levels during festivities at different intervals during the year,” said AK Sinha, CPCB scientist, who supervised the study.
A detailed study carried out by NGO Awaaz Foundation in 2015 for noise generated from different vehicles in the city, two-wheelers showed average noise levels up to 90dB, while the maximum permissible level is 75dB. Three-wheelers such as autorickshaws showed consistent noise levels between 77 dB and 85 dB as against 77dB, passenger cars, including taxis up to 80-82 dB with permissible levels of 75dB, and trucks between 80–95dB as against 82dB.
“There is an urgent need to sensitise people about the ill-effects of noise and the government needs to undertake a comprehensive noise map of Mumbai,” said Sumaira Abdulali, convener, Awaaz Foundation.
MPCB officials highlighted that noise rules are being flouted owing to a lack of knowledge among law enforcement officials. “The Mumbai police have not enforced stricter regulations at different locations because they do not understand the difference between silence and commercial zones. A rigorous training programme is required for police officers at all levels to understand the impact of noise,” said a senior official from the MPCB.
Environmentalists said the state government or the police were not treating noise pollution as a serious violation under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, that levies heavy penalties up to Rs1 lakh, imprisonment up to five years or both. “Penalties like these will go a long way in controlling the problem in Mumbai,” said Dr Yeshwant Oke, who registered the first case in Mumbai against noise pollution. “Police officers are still following the Bombay Police Act, charging meagre penalties of Rs5,000 for noise violators.”
Officers from the Mumbai police told HT that over the past two years, policemen across the city have been trained to use noise measuring devices and implement necessary action as per noise rules. “We have been tying up with several NGOs and residents from the city to conduct workshops for police officers,” said Dhananjay Kulkarni, DCP (crime) and spokesperson, Mumbai police. “Over the next year, we will be carrying out several campaigns to make Mumbai a quieter city.”
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/
HKUST nanotechnology research reduces low-frequency noise irritations
In Professor Ping Sheng’s world of nano-science research, the relationship between a manometer and a single human blood cell is similar to the relationship between a kilometer and a millimeter. The research work is never predictable, and is frustrating at times. But it’s always exhilarating, says Sheng, who is the Dr William M.W. Mong chair professor of nano-science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
Nanotechnology, which is the science of extremely small things, was first discussed in the late 1950s. Sheng says the discipline has now evolved to the stage where many objects in daily use, such as microchips, have been miniaturized to the sub-100 manometer scale. “From scientific wishful thinking, we have moved to commercialization, and the discovery of new nano materials that provide a vast range of applications,” says Sheng, who joined the HKUST in1994.
Studying the behavior and application of extremely small things has become much broader now that nano elements that consumers don’t notice are embedded in commonplace products, he adds. “These days, if you say you work in nano research, people just say, ‘Oh, that’s interesting’. So you have to be more specific. That’s a good thing, because it shows nanotechnology has become part of the mainstream.”
Sheng’s nano-physics research, which involves the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale, led to the discovery of resonant sonic materials that break the mass density law in shielding low frequency sound. Put simply, the professor’s discovery can be used to produce materials to absorb or block low-frequency sounds produced by construction sites, railroads, airports, diesel turbines, electric transformers, and even the low-frequency hum produced by green energy producing windmills.
“The material is almost one 100 per cent efficient ageist protection against even the most pernicious low-frequency sounds,” explains the professor. The World Health Organisation recognizes the special position of low-frequency noise as an environmental problem, particularly to sensitive people in their homes. Materials made from the professor’s research discovery can also be used to improve indoor acoustic quality, provide sound proofing, and absorb the low frequency noise made by fans.
Regulators around the world are becoming less tolerant of industries and products that produce low frequency noise, Sheng says, so the demand for low-frequency sound absorbing materials is expected to grow. Discussions are currently taking place between the HKUST and a private company with a view to commercializing the professor’s discovery.
Sheng has also turned his attention to the electromagnetically (ER) effect in suspensions of particles, or the process of applying electricity to certain nano particles in liquids that turn them into a solid form in a matter of milliseconds. The process has been proposed as a method of constructing shock absorbers on magnetically levitated trains.
“At first, our findings produced material with the consistency of tofu,” Sheng says. “But further research led to the discovery of a common molecule found in fertilizer and plants, which has viscosity-changing qualities that turns liquids into solid plastic-like substances.” electricity is applied, the material becomes a “smart” material which can be used in robotic hands to actuate cause small movements. Sheng’s nano particle technology has been licensed to a Hong Kong company with a production line in Shenzhen. He has also initiated and the effort that led to the solution of minimum energy dissipation, the classical problem of moving contact line in immiscible flows, by using the Onsager’s principle.
Sheng decided he wanted to become a scientist at an early age. During his elementary school years, he was inspired by Chinese-born American physicist Lee Tsung-dao, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 with (Franklin) Yang Chen-ning. At university, he took courses given by Richard Feynman, the father of nanotechnology. Sheng also attended courses by theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, one of the world’s leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Although he shrugs off the suggestion he is a source of inspiration for his students, Sheng says he gets immense satisfaction from mentoring them. Sometimes learns from them, too, he says. Sheng says that HKUST motivates him to to pursue scientific inquiry, ask the bigger questions, and never be deterred from overcoming a challenge to provide clarity. “There are frustrations, but that’s what research involves,” says Sheng. “Nature never cheats you, so you need to keep looking for solutions.”
Sheng says HKUST consistently attracts high-caliber students, and has a first-class faculty to conduct world-class research. That’s the key to successful scientific research, he adds. Sheng cites the advantage that comes from HKUST research proposals becoming known to the international community.
“If a proposal is not up to an international level, it will be rejected,” says Sheng, adding that this keeps HKUST research activities in the global arena, and ensures the quality remains high. “The success rate of HKUST’s proposals reflect the quality of the research work undertaken by the university,” notes Sheng.
Sourcee: http://www.lettersfromthailand.com/
Siem Reap hospitality businesses have called for action to address noise issues around Pub Street they say are affecting the city’s appeal to more lucrative tourists.
The Cambodia Hotel Association collected letters from the businesses and forwarded them to Siem Reap provincial governor Khim Bun Song this week asking him to enforce existing noise pollution laws.
The letters were gathered on the advice of the Ministry of Tourism as part of a consultation exercise in conjunction with the Cambodia Tourism Federation and Government-Private Sector Forum Tourism.
Carrol Sahaidak-Beaver, executive director of the CHA, said: “We were asked by the Ministry of Tourism to identify specific details on where there were issues so they could take action.” Sahaidak-Beaver did not say how many letters were submitted, but said that they identified specific areas, venues and time frames.
Cambodian anti-noise pollution laws specify noise levels in mixed commercial and service areas should not exceed 65 decibels between 6pm and 10pm, and 50 decibels from 10pm until the following morning. Daytime noise in such areas is permitted up to 70 decibels. Fifty decibels is equivalent to the sound of a dishwasher in an adjacent room.
On most nights along Pub Street after 10pm, dance music thumps from Angkor What? Bar and Temple Club, while live bands clang and caterwaul upstairs at Beer Battle and Triangle. Further along, karaoke singers bawl out of Corner Bar, startling diners in nearby restaurants who strain to catch each other’s conversations over cooling plates of fish amok.
Local business owners complain that with the noise, the lights and streets overrun with drinks carts, the overall impression is less than dignified, and their businesses are suffering as a result. They also feel that in a city dependent on cultural tourism driven by the temples of Angkor, the atmosphere is incongruous.
In common with many that Post Weekend spoke to, the owner of one well-established business in the area, who wished to remain anonymous, feels that Pub Street has lost its charm.
“The impression now is that of a cheap Kao San Road [the notoriously tawdry Bangkok backpacker district]. It’s disorganised, overcrowded, dirty, and a deafening loud, chaotic mess,” he said.
Caught between the competing dins, he is losing business as a result as diners choose to take their business where they can actually hear one another speak.
Sahaidak-Beaver agrees. “Pub Street is a condensed area that frankly is losing its value just for that reason,” she said. “The excitement of a lot going on struggles against the increasing middle to upper-middle class tourist that does not want to be accosted by noise and conflicting entertainment.
I avoid Pub Street in that there is nowhere to sit where you aren’t hearing two or three or more other facilities. This is not fun.”
Martin Dishman, the owner of Linga Bar and Hotel Be, has watched guests check out after only one night in his three-room boutique hotel on The Passage.
“We have had many guests stay one night and flee the next day because they couldn’t handle the noise,” he said. “Once that got into reviews, people began to understand the location was noisy, but not everyone can deal with it. As a result, our business has suffered. Where I once had five hotel staff, I now have just two.”
The issue seems to have worsened over the years, in particular as competition between the two clubs at the top end of Pub Street has intensified.
Alex Sutherland, the owner of Angkor What? Bar, acknowledged that there was a problem, and said that he would like to see a resolution that allowed everyone to continue to enjoy themselves while respecting other businesses.
“I’d like to see the clubs closed off, so that the sound is contained inside where you can play as loud as you like without disturbing anyone on the street,” he said.
Post Weekend contacted Temple Club for a comment but were told that the owners were not available.
Sahaidak-Beaver said the CHA and its members wanted the existing law to be enforced, not just for the benefit of their members but also for the general public.
“This is just not about our businesses,” she said. “It is about children sleeping, it is about the effect on families, it is about the decibels that are destroying hearing. We need to be concerned about this.
“I think it is time for these facilities to recognize the right of individual facilities to ensure the right of enjoyment in each one.”
Another business owner whose trade has also been affected, and who wished to remain anonymous, echoed the view of many in hoping that action may soon be taken.
“I think that the local authorities understand the need for this area to attract a wide range of tourists and that Siem Reap’s economy is very dependent on cultural tourism.
“I think everyone is working to make Siem Reap a more distinguished destination. We have recently had the new code of conduct for the temples, the beautification of the riverside and a number of international accolades, and I hope that noise pollution will be addressed shortly.”
Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/calls-shhh-noisy-pub-street
The Indian Medical Association has decided to hold awareness programmes about the health consequences of noise pollution among public and students.
Against the backdrop of India being the noisiest place in the world due to noise pollution generated by the vehicular traffic, unnecessary use of air horns, sound generated by industries (powerlooms, spinning mills and foundries), crackers, loud speakers, and excessive use of mobile phones, walkman, ear phone and other such gadgets, the IMA would sensitise the public to the dangers caused not only to ears but also the entire body due to noise above 80 decibels.
Excessive noise increases heart rate, blood pressure and leads to endocrinal changes, C.N. Raja, Secretary IMA – Nursing Home Board, told The Hindu .
Noise at night causes sleep disturbances, especially for elders and young ones. Hearing sound above permissible level produces personality changes, affecting human productivity and also increases the formation of free radicals in the human body. All these are proved by various scientific studies, Dr. Raja said, calling for implementation of rules and regulations and restrictions against noise pollution during the conduct of political meetings and festivals.
Earlier this month, the IMA formed a Working Group to fight against noise pollution and decided to have its sitting at New Delhi shortly.
The Working Group was formed along with the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI) during the National Initiative for Safe Sound Leadership Meet and Workshop at Chennai recently.
At the meeting chaired by A. Marthanda Pillai, Immediate Past National President of IMA, the first-ever collective attempt to fight noise pollution was formed with K.A. Seethi, Past President of AOI, Kerala as the Chairman, John Panicker, Past President of AOI – Kerala as Coordinator, and Dr. Raja, Past President of AOI – Tamil Nadu and Past State Secretary of IMA as Convenor.
Prominent personalities in the group include Padmasri Mohan Kameswaran; Padmasri Santosh Kakkar, Former Director of AIIMS; Yeshwant Oke and Sujata Rao of Mumbai; Ajay Lekhe – President of IMA – Delhi; and Social Activist Sumaira Abdulali, Convenor, Awaaz Foundation, Mumbai.
The meeting adopted resolutions calling for correction of noise to safe level at industries and residential areas; evolving corrective plans to wean away youngsters from abnormal use of electronic gadgets and loud music using devices that pose threat to human ears and affect cognitive activities of brain; seeking a government policy on safe noise level in future for implementation by industries and other institutions; and implementation of the same in metropolitan and other major cities.
Source http://www.thehindu.com/
With Diwali round the corner, fire crackers in the city have started arriving in new avatars. Wave a Harry Potter wand, watch a peacock spread lights through its plumes or light up a Christmas tree and watch it’s white and silver flakes err, flames, via firecrackers.The phatakas are as zany as it gets this time and here’s what’s in store…
With Diwali round the corner, fire crackers in the city have started arriving in new avatars. Wave a Harry Potter wand, watch a peacock spread lights through its plumes or light up a Christmas tree and watch it’s white and silver flakes err, flames, via firecrackers.The phatakas are as zany as it gets this time and here’s what’s in store…
Noiseless, smokeless in demand
Apart from the usual phooljhari, anaar and chakri as well as ladi bombs, this year there is a demand for items based more on light than sound. “Well, I wouldn’t say these are completely noiseless, but noise-less,” laughs Abdulla Ghia of a fireworks store at Mohammed Ali Road.”Earlier, the big draw were atom bombs, but now people want more aerial items like the rocket, flashlights and fountains.” There is a `crackling peacock’ that actually seems to spread its wings when lit up, a musical ground chakri and one shaped like a swastika! Made of recycled paper, most of the eco-friendly firecrackers have a lesser chemical content and thus emit lesser pollution and noise. Take the long `magic whip’ -coloured strings that just throw small sparks and don’t emit smoke. “Most people no longer like that loud dhamaka, and ground atom bombs are no longer appreciated,” adds Murtaza Sabuwala of a fireworks shop ahead on the same road. ” A new cracker, which is meant to look like railway signal, emits a red then green light just like a real signal. Also popular are `diamonds’, which just emit light and are safe for kids,” he informs.
Bikes and kids’ fiction characters
The crackers come packaged in everything from the Hulk to Pokemon and designer motorcycles and cars. A Doraemon firework goes hissing into the sky only to fall back within minutes and there are assorted flat cracker cartoons that simply whoosh about two or three feet, minus any smoke.”Another big attraction this time is the Angry Birds cracker, which is just a 5colour assorted fountain with a small crackling sound,” says seller Himanshu Mehta. He adds that the Christmas tree, which throws out silver lights like flakes and Harry Potter pencils that light up like real wands, have been selling like hotcakes.
Shopkeepers welcome sc refusal on cracker ban
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to order a blanket ban on firecrackers during Diwali, has been welcomed by Mumbai vendors. Says Minhesh Mehta, hon. gen secretary of the Fireworks Dealers Welfare Association, “It’s a good thing that this has happened. After all, the pollution in the city is not only due to crackers, there is so much noise and air pollution due to traffic and that too, 12 months of the year! I feel we can’t ban crackers as it is a fundamental right of a citizen to enjoy him or herself, but that said, people also should burn crackers with some self-discipline and not beyond certain hours or in silence zones.”
Source: http://www.indiatimes.com/
India: Rajarampuri, Shahupuri noisiest roads in Kolhapur
Rajarampuri, Shahupuri noisiest roads in Kolhapur – The Times of India
Rajarampuri, Shahupuri noisiest roads in Kolhapur
Rajarampuri, Shahupuri noisiest roads in Kolhapur – The Times of India
KOLHAPUR: The city’s commercial areas Rajarampuri, Shahupuri and the Mahadwar road were the noisiest on Thursday as Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated with sound levels exceeding 100 decibels.
Students from the department of environmental sciences of the Shivaji University, Kolhapur, monitored the sound levels in the city as the first day of the festival was celebrated.
Readings indicated that sound from almost areas crossed the permissible sound limits laid down by the Maharashtra pollution control board (MPCB). Sound levels should not exceed 55 decibels in residential areas.
Noise levels in areas of the city like Udyam nagar, Rajarampuri, Shahupuri, Laxmipuri and Mahadwar road, showed consistent readings of 90 decibels and above, even at night.
P D Raut, the head of the department of environmental sciences, told TOI, “The digital sound systems are mainly responsible for these readings. Data shows that sound levels were almost double the permissible limits. Rajarampuri area was the noisiest recording 107 dB, while Shahpuri followed with a reading if 106 dB.”
Two students actively participated in monitoring the sound levels using a noise level meter. Raut said that four ten-minute readings were taken over 60 minutes in a particular area and calculated accordingly.
Thursday’s readings show that very few Ganesh mandals have responded to the Kolhapur police’s appeal for not using high decibel sound system. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
A right earful: Hong Kong’s noise pollutionHong Kong
Time Out Hong Kong | Big Smog | A right earful: Hong Kong’s noise pollution
As the government updates its citywide noise pollution map for the first time in 15 years, Rhoda Kwan and Anna Cummins explore the consequences of cacophony. Additional reporting by Dorothy Hou
Car horns, bus engines, unloading lorries, whirring drills – these are just some of the everyday sounds of our city. Excess noise is a blight on the lives of at least a million Hongkongers, but it’s one that we often put up with. The government recognises that one in seven of us are regularly exposed to noise levels above WHO (World Health Organisation)-recommended limits. And the impact of excess noise goes much further than making it difficult to catch the quiet part of your favourite show on Netflix. Research shows that exposure to road noise of an average 30 decibels (dB) at night, equivalent to a faint hum, can induce sleep disturbance. Noises over 35 dB have been shown to disrupt concentration at work or school. While it’s well known that long term exposure to loud noise can damage hearing, there are also behavioural effects that it can induce, such as irritability, increased aggression, stress and even depression.The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is currently in the process of updating a 15-year-old map that records levels of traffic noise pollution over the city. When the map was last published in 2000, it showed that 37 percent of people living in Yau Tsim Mong were regularly exposed to noise levels of 70 dB or more. (That’s equivalent to the noise of a vacuum cleaner, or standing a few metres away from a car doing 100km/h). Around 25 percent of people living in Sham Shui Po, Wan Chai, Kowloon City and Tsuen Wan also dealt regularly with excess clamour at the turn of the millennium, with the majority of other districts recording noise disturbance from traffic in at least 15 percent of residents.
Car horns, bus engines, unloading lorries, whirring drills – these are just some of the everyday sounds of our city. Excess noise is a blight on the lives of at least a million Hongkongers, but it’s one that we often put up with. The government recognises that one in seven of us are regularly exposed to noise levels above WHO (World Health Organisation)-recommended limits. And the impact of excess noise goes much further than making it difficult to catch the quiet part of your favourite show on Netflix. Research shows that exposure to road noise of an average 30 decibels (dB) at night, equivalent to a faint hum, can induce sleep disturbance. Noises over 35 dB have been shown to disrupt concentration at work or school. While it’s well known that long term exposure to loud noise can damage hearing, there are also behavioural effects that it can induce, such as irritability, increased aggression, stress and even depression.The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is currently in the process of updating a 15-year-old map that records levels of traffic noise pollution over the city. When the map was last published in 2000, it showed that 37 percent of people living in Yau Tsim Mong were regularly exposed to noise levels of 70 dB or more. (That’s equivalent to the noise of a vacuum cleaner, or standing a few metres away from a car doing 100km/h). Around 25 percent of people living in Sham Shui Po, Wan Chai, Kowloon City and Tsuen Wan also dealt regularly with excess clamour at the turn of the millennium, with the majority of other districts recording noise disturbance from traffic in at least 15 percent of residents.
So, why is the map only being updated now? In essence, it takes so long because it’s a such a big and expensive job. “The reassessment is about spatial distribution of traffic noise,” explains an EPD spokesperson. “Results of the work will provide information on the road traffic noise environment across the territory. This will help identify problem areas… [and] help to refine the strategies where necessary. An enormous amount of data has to be collected for the reassessment process. The calculation model includes about 130,000 building structures, 2,100km of busy roads, geographic information including hills, terrain, podiums, barriers, road surface types and enclosures, and traffic data such as traffic flow, composition and speed. [It’s] undoubtedly a very time-consuming and labour intensive task.”
Time Out Hong Kong | Big Smog | A right earful: Hong Kong’s noise pollution
The EPD is clearly conscious of the number of people affected by excess noise. “The Government of Hong Kong does care about noise that will affect people,” their spokesperson asserts to us. The department currently operates a ‘four pronged’ approach to combating noise pollution, which includes legislation and mitigation by planning.
It’s slightly easier to mitigate the problem with new roads, which can be built with soundproofing barriers and quieter surfaces. But there are currently around 600 old roads that regularly produce noise over 70 dB. And that’s something that, for now, a lot of people are going to have to put up with. While the department has pointed out that preliminary results of its survey indicate a drop in the number of people exposed to excess traffic noise, compared to the last survey in 2000, there were still 3,859 official noise complaints from the public last year.
“The EPD benchmark is 70 dB, this is an international standard” explains Michelle Wong, communications manager at think tank Civic Exchange. “The problem here is that we do not have any comprehensive study of the baseline of the city’s noise distribution. If we apply 70 dB to different situations, the outcome could be very different. In a commercial centre 70 dB has one outcome. But in a residential area, it is another story.”
Civic Exchange are one group who have regularly called on the government to pay more attention to the perennial issue of noise pollution, which can often be superseded in the public’s consciousness by other, more physically evident forms of pollution. “In noise control, much more effort is needed from the government, business and the public of Hong Kong,” says Wong. “[The government] have mentioned planning as one of the major directions they will take to combat noise pollution. But everybody knows that Hong Kong is a very tiny place with limited land and a huge demand on housing. Planners simply want to take advantage and use every piece of land. But is it always suitable to build a residential area in a certain
location? The alignment of the building also plays a really important role in diminishing the noise impact. For example, the bedroom windows should not be facing a main road directly.”
We visit Mong Kok to find out what residents think of the EPD’s new survey and the preliminary results. Ms Cheung works in a grocery shop and lives on Shanghai Street. “I live on the 21st floor and the noise is still pretty bad,” she tells us. “The lorries for the fruit market start unloading at about 5am. It wakes me up from my sleep. They have another round at 10pm.” Student Lily Ng grew up in the area, and finds the noise from the main road she lives on distracting. “Sometimes I can’t concentrate on my work because of the buses outside the window,” she confesses. “Perhaps it’s just an excuse, but it makes me want to give up on studying my homework! I can’t say it’s got worse since 2000, but it’s definitely no better. I think it is just the same now as it always was. Bad! You kind of get used to it, though.”
The EPD may have spent around $100million per year combating noise pollution, but Civic Exchange are hoping more will be done. “Like many other issues in Hong Kong, there is no proactivity from the government,” explains Wong. “The ideal case would be for the government officials to proactively check construction sites, or the traffic roads and make sure the noise level meets the benchmark, rather than people feeling annoyed and filing a complaint. You can imagine there are more people who are disturbed by noise pollution who are passive and don’t file complaints. They might just think ‘This is Hong Kong, it’s a noisy place’ and endure.
Source: http://www.timeout.com.hk
Indonesia in new bid to muffle noisy mosques
JAKARTA – Indonesia has set up a new team to reduce noise from mosques, an official said Thursday, as places of worship go into overdrive during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
There are approximately 800,000 mosques in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation but residents living nearby have long complained that their speakers are too loud.
Places of worship become particularly active during Ramadan, which this year runs from mid-June to mid-July, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and mosques blare out religious sermons even earlier than usual.
In a new attempt to tackle the issue, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is also head of a body grouping many of the country’s mosques, has formed a team to take samples of noise from mosque speakers across the country, his spokesman Husain Abdullah told AFP.
“The idea is for mosques to turn down the volume a little so that the sound can be heard only by residents in the immediate area,” he said, adding that the aim was to have a “more harmonious, melodious sound coming from mosques”.
He said that mosques also had to ensure that the sounds they produced did not overlap with noises from others nearby, saying there was often a “war of the loudspeakers” between places of worship in the same area which try to outdo each other by playing sermons loudly.
The new group, set up earlier this month, had collected many samples and would send a report to the vice president, who planned to sit down with Indonesia’s top Muslim clerical body and Islamic organisations and discuss how to tackle the issue.
The new group would complement a previous initiative, which saw around 100 teams of technicians deployed across the country to help fine-tune mosque loudspeakers and give advice on how best to arrange speakers to reduce noise.
But Abdullah admitted regulating noisy mosques across the world’s biggest archipelago nation would be tough and called on the clerical body, the Indonesian Council of Ulema, to issue a fatwa on the issue.
Source: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/indonesia-new-bid-muffle-noisy-mosques#sthash.5NWbG14B.dpuf
Fewer people are now exposed to excessive levels of traffic noise than were a decade and a half ago, but the problem remains an issue in old urban districts, environmental officials say.
The Environmental Protection Department says it is in the process of updating a 15-year-old traffic noise pollution map for the city.
The latest data available on the departments website is from 2000, and shows at least 1.14 million people were exposed to traffic noise exceeding 70 decibels, which is the planning standard.
The [department] is in the course of reassessing the spatial distribution of traffic noise over the whole territory based on more recent traffic census data and the reassessment work is expected to be completed later this year, a spokesman said.
The department said preliminary results indicated the total number of people affected by traffic noise at levels higher than planning standards had been reduced, but old urban districts such as Kwun Tong and Yau Tsim Mong still remain the worst in terms of the number of people affected.
It added that prevention of noise problems through active planning processes and implementation of traffic noise abatement programmes, including the provision of noise barriers and low-noise road surfacing across the city, had helped lower the number.
In 2000, at least 37 per cent of people in Yau Tsim Mong were exposed to traffic noise higher than 70 decibels, as were more than a quarter of residents in Kowloon City, Sham Shui Po and Tsuen Wan.
The noise map on the current website factors in the year 2000s population of 6.6 million a figure that has since grown by nearly 10 per cent. Traffic flow is also likely to have changed significantly in that time.
Chinese University noise assessment expert Professor Lam Kin-che said noise mapping was an extremely expensive and difficult project to conduct, but was a credible way to trace noise pollution to its source. He said it was normal that such a study took a long time to update.
Lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan, who chaired the Legislative Councils now defunct subcommittee on issues relating to air, noise and light pollution, welcomed the move.
The subcommittee had asked them to update this noise map before, she said, but added that more needed to be done as noise and light pollution were getting worse in certain areas, especially mixed commercial and residential districts.
Buildings are getting taller and there are fewer natural noise barriers. Noise pollution can seriously affect the quality of sleep and thus the health of residents.
A British study last month cited a link between traffic noise pollution and an increased risk of strokes and deaths, especially among the elderly. Experts in Hong Kong have called for health risks from noise pollution to be factored into environmental impact assessment reports.
But the department said a 2012 study it commissioned on 10,000 homes found no conclusive evidence that physiological responses due to noise exposure were associated with a long-term risk of cardiovascular disease.
Noise complaints have been dropping over the years. From 4,952 in 2010, they gradually declined to 3,859 last year. Complaints specifically about traffic noise have also dropped from 215 in 2010 to 88 last year. This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Fewer exposed to traffic noise as city grows
