Assessment of Traffic Noise Pollution in Burla Town,India;An InclusiveAnnoyance Study

Noise pollution is one of the major public health problems in urban areas throughout the world.Noise is unwanted sound which produces undesirable problems in day to day life of human being(e.g.,physiological and psychological problems).Rapid increase of the industrialization,urbanization,infrastructure,volume of motor vehicles,and increase in the road networks brought noise pollution to the highest level of disaster in a current situation.In urban areas,road traffic noise plays commanding role among all noise sources and affects the exposed inhabitants.The present work is done to evaluate and assess the traffic noise and its effects in Burla town.Burla,Vidyanagari of Odisha,is an emerging town in India,as it hosts national level of teaching and research institutions like IIM Sambalpur,a medical college-cum-hospital(VIMSAR),a technical university(VSSUT)and Sambalpur University.In last two decade,the road traffic volume has been increased and is facing severe noise pollution to its inhabitants.Noise pollution assessment was made at different locations of the town.This study unveiled the dismal state of noise pollution in the town.Noise contour maps were drawn to visualize the noise level at the traffic and its surroundings.The numbers of hearing impaired patients in different hospitals of the locality are increasing.That shows grim picture of the situation.Regression equations were established taking noise levels with percentage of highly annoyed people during study indicates strong correlation.

Appraisal of Urban Road Traffic Noise in tier-II City(Surat City),India

Urban road traffic noise pollution has always been identified as a severe problem that affects urban populants.In developing nation,road traffic noise pollution depends on the composition of heterogeneous traffic composition.These traffic compositions contain vehicles,which have different sizes,speeds variations,a different dimension of vehicles.Environmental noise measurements have been carried out during day-time and night-time in different locations of tier-II city of India.The noise levels have been continuously measured over 24 h periods using kimo DB 300 class-2 noise level meter.The data contained in this research paper represent 768 measurement hours.All the information has been used to investigate the time patterns of the noise levels under a wide range of different conditions and to study the relationships between noise levels and traffic in urban areas.Maximum LAeq was observed 73.3 dB(A)at B_(14) location and the minimum was recorded 65.7 dB(A)at C_(3) location,which was greater than the central pollution control board(CPCB)prescribed limits during night time.A major reason for the generation of road traffic noise is due to the equal composition of 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler on the arterial road and heavy vehicles were recorded during morning peak and evening peak even though they are prohibited during peak hours.

Evaluating Market Benefits of Transportation Tunnels—The Carmel Tunnels as a Case Study

Since opening in 2010, The Carmel Tunnels have redirected some of the traffic from within the City of Haifa in Israel. This paper studies the direct and indirect financial and environmental benefits of the Carmel Tunnels compared to alternative routes. Di-rect benefits for drivers include financial savings thanks to savings on time and gas. Indirect benefits for drivers and for the public include reduced air pollution, green-house gas emissions and noise. Results show significant positive benefits from using the Carmel Tunnels compared to various alternative routes (i.e., reference scenarios). During peak hours (8 am and 4 pm), when there is heavy traffic on the alternative routes, the total benefits increase by about 25% - 47%. Using tunnels for transportation allows, among other benefits, efficient use of underground land, redirecting traffic congestion from town centers, decreasing landscape damage due to major roads passing through open spaces, and reducing air pollution in residential areas.