No green Diwali, city records high noise and air pollution level again

The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee monitored the air quality and noise levels. Apart from Diwali night, data was collected a week before Diwali from sectors 17, 22 and 29.

The standard value of sound between 6 am and 10 pm is 55 decibel, between 10 pm and 6 am it is 45 decibel. On Diwali, the noise level between 8 pm and 10 pm in sectors 22, 29 and 17 was 82.9 decibel, 75.0 decibel and 68.4 decibel respectively.

P J S Dadhwal, secretary of CPCC, said that in comparison to last year, the noise level was slightly higher between 8 pm and 10 pm in Sector 22 and was reduced in Sector 17 and Sector 29 this year.

The maximum air pollution was found in Sector 29 and minimum air pollution was found in Sector 17.

The standard value of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), which measures air pollution, is 100 microgram per cubic metre. It exceeded this limit at all three places.

However, it was lower in Sector 22 and Sector 29 as compared to last year, but it increased in Sector 17. In Sector 22, RSPM level was 218 micrograms per cubic metre instead of 450 last year. The RSPM level recorded a week before Diwali in Sector 22 was 68 micrograms per cubic metre.

In Sector 29, RSPM was 260 micrograms per cubic metre against 409 last year and in Sector 17, it was 185 micrograms per cubic metre, higher than the RSPM level last year, which was 165 micrograms per cubic metre.