Is New Delhi Loud?

Prashant Mudgal

Data Scientist and Operations Researcher

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With the population of over 9 million, New Delhi is one of the most

famous cities in the world. Last time when I visited New Delhi in

October 2015, I felt overwhelmed by the noise not only on roads but

also in office and in the residential areas. I thought of measuring the

same and conduct a similar experiment in New York and San

Francisco and compare.

The idea

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I am not claiming it to be a scientific study but in comparative analysis

all readings would suffer from same observational/equipment error, if

any.

Android phone : Nexus 4 and Nexus 6P

App : iNVH by Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions

available on Google Play Store

Time Range : 6 AM to 12 AM

What are we measuring : SPL ( Sound Pressure Level)

Units of measurement : decibel, dB(A). ‘A’ denotes A-weighting scheme

which is industry wide standard

Equipment and set up

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It is not correct to ask, a truck! How many dB? The distance is missing

here.

A given sound level without a given distance is really useless.

A typical correct question in this perspective : A truck is making noise

but how far is it?

The measurements in this experiment are within 5 to 10 meter range

from the sources.

Thing to keep in mind!

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Sound Pressure Level table for reference IData of Central Pollution Control Board, India

Source : http://cpcbenvis.nic.in/noise_pollution_control.html

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Sound Pressure Level table for reference IIAn industrial device manufacturer

Source : https://www.brechbuehler.ch/Whisper-

9000.129+M55e234dd01a.0.html

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Ambient air quality standards in respect to noiseData for New Delhi

Source : http://www.niohenvis.nic.in/statistics/LEG_OSH/The%20Noise%20Pollution%20(Regulation%20and

%20Control)%20Rules,%202000.pdf

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Why this Table is Important?How loud is dangerous?(Typical dbA levels)

http://www.niohenvis.nic.in/statistics/LEG_OSH/The%20Noise%20Pollution%20(Regulation%20and%20Control)%20Rules

,%202000.pdf

Most of the Sound level measuring devices use the A-weighting as it suppresses the hum components.

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The road taken

New Delhi : North-West Delhi(Rohini) -> Wazirpur Industrial Area -> Outer

ring road towards Naraina -> Dhaula Kuan -> Subroto Park -> NH-8 towards

Gurgaon. Stay at office and then take the same route back in car.

New York : Upper east side(Yorkville) -> 77 st. subway station -> subway ->

57 st. midtown Manhattan. Stay at office and take the same route back.

(A lot of walking and exposure to road traffic is also involved)

San Francisco : Glen Park -> BART station -> BART -> Mission Street ->

Stay in office and take the same route back.

(A lot of walking and exposure to road traffic is also involved)

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Comparative analysis

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Observations

The results are conspicuous. The early hustle bustle of the morning makes

New Delhi a lively city but as you move into the day the blaring loudspeakers

for appeasing the gods, incessant honking on roads, traffic jams cause a lot of

stress.

One thing to note is the office culture, in US a typical business consulting

office is quiet but same is not the case in Delhi, people love to visit each other

on their cubicles and chat or don’t necessarily book a meeting room for a

discussion.

The moment you step out of the office, you will go through the same torture of

noise as you did in the morning.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm

http://cpcb.nic.in/noise_pollution/StatusofAmbientNoiseLevelinDelhi-2006.pdf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2334486/Delhi-uncivilised-city-Dangerous-levels-noise-pollution-Capital-

causing-onset-age-related-hearing-loss-early-60-new-study-warns.html

http://www.cseindia.org/decibel_tour_delhi.pdf

References