Assessment, analysis and appraisal of road traffic noise pollution in Rourkela city, India.

The problem of road traffic noise pollution has become a concern for both the public and the policy makers. Noise level was assessed in 12 different squares of Rourkela city during different specified times (7-10 a.m., 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 3-6 p.m., 7-10 p.m., 10 p.m.-12 midnight and 4-6 a.m.). Noise descriptors such as L,eq, traffic noise index, noise pollution level, noise climate, Lday, Levening, Lnight and Lden were assessed to reveal the extent of noise pollution due to heavy traffic in this city. The equivalent noise levels of all the 12 squares were found to be much beyond the permissible limit (70dB during day time and 55dB during night time). Appallingly, even the minimum L eq and NPL values were more than 82 dB and 96 dB during day time and 69 dB and 91 dB during night time respectively. Lden values of investigated squares ranged from 83.4 to 86.1 dB and were even more than the day time permissible limit of traffic noise. The prediction model was used in the present study to predict noise pollution level instead of Leq. Comparison of predicted with that of the actual measured data demonstrated that the model used for the prediction has the ability to calibrate the multicomponent traffic noise and yield reliable results close to that by direct measurement. Lastly, it is inferred that the dimension of the traffic generated noise pollution in Rourkela is critical.