Sunday Was The Noisiest Fifth Day Of Ganeshotsav In Ten Years

Photo: Kainaz Amaria.

If you thought that Ganeshotsav festivities were abnormally cacophonous on Sunday night, it’s because they were. Sunday, September 23, was the fifth day of this year’s Ganesh festival, and also Gauri visarjan, the day idols of both Ganesh and his mother are immersed. According to NGO Awaaz Foundation, which recorded noise levels in nine spots in Mumbai on the day, the city experienced its loudest fifth day of Ganeshotsav in the last ten years.

Normally at night, the permissible noise level is 45 decibels in residential areas, and 40 decibels in silence zones. However, the government has allowed loudspeakers to be used until midnight on the last five days of Ganeshotsav, and for musical instruments to be played after midnight during immersion processions (which take place on the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh days of the festival). This past Sunday, the noise level rose to 115 decibels. “Fire crackers cross 120-125dB,” said Sumaira Abdulali, convenor of Awaaz and a tireless campaigner for noise pollution control in the city. “But 115dB from musical instruments is the highest we have recorded in the past ten years.” The owners of Goa Portuguesa, a restaurant in Mahim, have even claimed that the music from the passing procession of Matunga’s Ganesh Mitra Mandal idol was so loud, it broke a lamp and caused window panes to crack.

Noise levels 155% above limit: NGO [Hindustan Times]