Abstract:
Environmental noise is one of the most unpredictable pollutant which adversely
affects the physical and mental health of humans. Environmental noise consists of all
the unwanted sounds except noise from the workplace. It is more severe, extensive and
aggressive spread than ever before, and it continues to enhance because of population
growth, urbanization, and the associated growth in the use of increasingly powerful,
diverse, and highly mobile sources of noise. In this study, noise levels were recorded
during daytime from six different locations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. The
purpose was to evaluate the noise levels and corresponding noise intensities with the
variation of seasonal and meteorological factors. The noise levels were recorded with a
calibrated digital sound level meter and corresponding sound intensity levels were
calculated. Temperature and humidity values at all locations were also recorded. Data
was recorded from morning 7am till night 10pm in four different time slots and 84
readings were recorded from each location. Over all data was recorded for a sevenmonth time period. The average noise level recorded from selected locations 6th road,
Pirwadahi, Raja-bazar, Faizabad Rawalpindi, I-9/3 sector Islamabad and Karachi
company Islamabad were 71.0, 85.5, 83.7, 79.9, 75.7 and 69.5 dB respectively. The
result of the study revealed that the noise levels of all the locations exceeded the
prescribed limits of National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). A trend of
increasing noise levels during summer was observed with increasing humidity levels.
Significant variation of noise levels was observed diurnally and season wise between
winter and summer months. In order to control and reduce the noise pollution from the
selected locations proper counter measures should be taken by the authorities.
