IJIRST –International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology| Volume 3 | Issue 04 | September 2016 ISSN (online): 2349-6010
Study of Noise Pollution Levels during the Festival Days of Simhastha Kumbh 2016 in Ujjain City, MP(India) Ajay kumar mishra M. E Student Department of Civil Engineering Jabalpur Engineering Collage Jabalpur
Prof. M K Koshta Associate Professor Department of Civil Engineering Jabalpur Engineering Collage Jabalpur
Abstract The primary aim of the study was to assess the noise level at two different places of Ujjain during Simhastha Kumbh Mela-2016 Mahaparv during Shahi Snaans and other holy dip days. Due to mass gathering during kumbh mela population density and number of automobiles increased and noise level compared to normal days also increased in the city. During the present study the noise levels were measured with the help of noise level meter at two different locations viz. Ramghat and Mangalnath ghat both are the most ancient ghats of ujjain near the bank of Kshipra river. Considering the increase in crowd of visitors and pilgrim near ghats, there is a need to study noise pollution in ujjain city during Simhastha kumbh. The study revealed the fact that in the festival days of shahi snaan noise level had reached beyond tolerable limits. The maximum noise levels during all three shahi snaan’s days were 82.3 dB(A), 83.6 dB(A) and 88.2 dB(A) respectively. It was also observed that Mangalnath ghat was noisier than Ramghat due to narrow roads, lack of space and improper traffic management. Such high noise levels may induce headache, sleeplessness and other varies effect which can reduce human working efficiency and produce negative impact on human health. Keywords: Kumbh, Noise Level, Pilgrims, Shahi Snaan, Simhastha _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I.
INTRODUCTION
As described in ancient vedic scriptures the kumbh mela is derived from immortal pot of nectar, in which the word kumbh means “pot”. The kumbh mela is one of the largest mass gathering public event in India. It is a mass hindu pilgrimage of reverence in which hindus gather to dip in a holy river. According to hindu mythology, origin of this festival found in the ancient of” samudra manthan “ or “churning of the ocean”. The legends tell about it that Gods and demons competed erectly in the churning to search of divine nectar of immortality. During this epic battle to capture the pot containing the nectar, drops of the precious liquid fell on the four places Haridwar, Prayag, Nasik and Ujjain-the four places where the kumbh festival has been held for centuries. Saints, pilgrims and visitors from all the corner of India and giant agglomeration of pilgrims occur to perform various religious rituals. Such a large mass gathering during festivals create large amount of noise pollution. Celebration of different festivals becoming more and more non-ecofriendly and made the environment polluted which disturb the whole life cycle on earth. Recently kumbh mela was held at Ujjain city which is also called “Simhastha” kumbh. It is celebrated when Jupiter ascends into sun sign Leo’s quarter or the Simha constellation of zodiac which is why that is called ‘Simhastha’. It was held from 22 April 2016 to 21 may 2016. It is believed that, a holy bath in auspicious River Kshipra during Simhastha mela has purifying effects. Hindus believe a festival dip will cleanse sins and help bring salvation. For this reason Hindu religion follower believes that the Simhastha mela is most auspicious place to take holy bath. In the present study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the noise level at two locations of Ujjain during festival days of kumbh mela 2016. The Noise pollution is rising as a serious problem in many urban areas. This problem has not been properly recognized despite the fact that it is steadily growing in many countries of the world. Every human activity produces noise and noise greater than permissible limits cause adverse effect on human, birds, animals and other living beings. Thus, Noise pollution is slow and subtle killer (Singh and Davar 2004) and most of the people is being habitual of it. At present we are facing hazardous environment problems & noise problem is one them. It can be minimized by individual control. Environmental protection act 1986 is enforced on 19 November 1986 to control the noise pollution. The central pollution control board constituted a committee on noise pollution control. This committee recommended noise standards for ambient air and for automobiles, domestic, construction equipment, which were later notified in environment protection rules, 1986. The noise pollution (regulation and control) rules 2000 is a reformation made by government of India in year 2010. II. STUDY SITES City Ujjain is also titled as “city of temples”. The Ujjain city is fifth important city of Madhya Pradesh, India. In ancient time, it was known as Avanti. It is located on the tropic of cancer, the prime of meridian of India, on The Malwa plateau which was
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Study of Noise Pollution Levels during the Festival Days of Simhastha Kumbh 2016 in Ujjain City, MP(India) (IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 039)
formed between 60 to 68 million year ago at the end of Cretaceous period. it is situated is at 23◦10’N latitude and 75◦46’0”E longitude and on the River bank of Kshipra which falls into nearby flowing Chambal The city has an average elevation of 494 metres. The population of Ujjain city is 4.30 lakh approx. The present study was conducted from 22 april 2016 to 21-may-2016 during the Simhastha kumbh mela with the help of portable precision noise level meter type CR-171B. To evaluate the ambient sound levels of Ujjain following two sites were selected i.e. Ramghat and Mangalnath ghat , both are the ancient ghats of Ujjain city and effected by crowd during kumbh Mela. Famous Ramghat is located approximately 1.1km far away from Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple. These locations are shown in fig 1(a).
Fig. 1(a): Map showing study sites in Ujjain city
III. METHODOLOGY The assessment of noise was conducted at two different locations of Ujjain city on the festival days of Simhastha kumbh mela with the help of portable cirrus noise level meter instrument (CR-171B) .This instrument also consist an acoustic calibrator, windshield, and four batteries. The measurement of noise level was carried out for whole 24 hours at the selected sites on important days. Locations were selected on the basis of mass gathering and traffic of area, will be chosen for assessment of noise level Possibly, the readings have been taken from at least 1.5 m above the ground level and 1.2 meter far away from road edge, at the concerned hours readings were recorded for 5 minutes for each hour. Further calculations had done by the noise tool software and further recheck by the formula of equivalent noise level (Leq) which is given below-
Where, n = total number of sound samples Li = noise level of any ith sample ti=time duration of ith sample expressed as fraction of total time sample Leq =statistical value of sound pressure level that can be equated to any fluctuating noise level. Thus, Leq is defined as constant Noise level which over a given time expands the same amount of energy as is expanded by the fluctuating levels over the same time. IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The data had been collected at two different monitoring sites on the occasion of Simhastha kumbh for important holy dip days with the help of portable cirrus noise level meter instrument (CR-171B) are depicted in table-1 given below. In present study the noise levels were measured at two different locations viz. Ramghat and Mangalnath ghat. These locations were selected because of the fact that these are the most used ghat for bathing and all the other rituals. The present study revealed that during the
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Study of Noise Pollution Levels during the Festival Days of Simhastha Kumbh 2016 in Ujjain City, MP(India) (IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 039)
festival days noise levels were definitely higher than normal days of Simhastha kumbh due to believe that a dip in holy river on important bathing days will cleanse sins and help bring salvation. On the main bathing days there will be a vivid, magnificent procession of radiant saints on chariots and elephants at sunrises. As the saint pass by, they impart blessings of divine grace to all the people. The glorious saints took their dip (shahi snaan) in river Kshipra. This takes place according to tradition, each group proceeding to the river and then bathing in a particular sequence. After all these groups have bathed, then all other people will take their turn to march to the kshipra for their bath. Such activities of Peshwai and rituals performed in Shahi snaan create high levels of noise. Result of noise levels during important bathing days shown in table-1.
S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Table-1 Results of noise levels during important bathing dates Max. noise levels(Leq) in dB(A) Festival days Date At Ramghat site At Mangalnath ghat site Day hours Night hours Day hours Night hours First Shahi snaan 22-04-2016 82.3 69.1 75.2 72.3 Vratparv Varuthini Ekadashi 03-05-2016 75.8 66.2 73.7 64.2 Vaishakh Krishna Amavasya 06-05-2016 76.1 66.7 77.5 67.6 Second Shahi snaan 09-05-2016 76.5 73.8 83.6 68.4 Shankaracharya jayanti 11-05-2016 75.2 66.4 76.8 70.2 Vrishabh sankranti 15-05-2016 81.4 70.5 79.4 72.1 Mohini Ekadashi 17-05-2016 81.5 81.0 84.1 69.5 pradosh 19-05-2016 85.6 75.3 78.5 83.0 Narsingh jayanti 20-05-2016 83.4 75.5 77.5 86.1 Third Shahi snaan 21-05-2016 80.7 73.8 88.2 68.7
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Day hours are reckoned from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Night hours are reckoned from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The results obtain from the study clearly indicate that noise levels during festive were higher compared to ambient noise standard. It is also observed that noise levels in these locations is higher in morning time at 7 am to 9 am and in evening time at 6pm to 9 pm due to performing rituals with the help of loudspeakers. In the last week of Simhastha, nights were as noisier as day. Maximum noise level in night time was recorded as 86.1dB at Mangalnath site during 10pm to 11pm which was also the maximum noise level of the day in festival day of Narsingh jayanti. Noise levels of holy shahi snaan days 24 hours variation shown by Graphical representation. In the beginning of Simhastha, approximately 1 million pilgrims arrived in the first shahi snaan and max. noise level recorded as 82.3 dB in morning 8 to 9 am in day hours at ramghat and 72.3dB in night hours at mangalnath site shown in Fig-1.
Fig. 1: Variation of noise level in first shahi snaan
In the second Shahi snaan, approximately 3.5 million pilgrims arrived for bathing in holy kshipra and max. Noise level recorded as 83.6 dB in the evening 7 to 8 pm in day hours at mangalnath and 73.8 dB in night hours at Ramghat shown in Fig-2.
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Study of Noise Pollution Levels during the Festival Days of Simhastha Kumbh 2016 in Ujjain City, MP(India) (IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 039)
Fig. 2: Variation of noise level in second shahi snaan
In the last Shahi snaan, approximately 7.5 million pilgrims arrived for holy dip and max. noise level recorded as 88.2dB in the evening 7 to 8 pm in day hours at mangalnath and 73.8 dB in night hours at Ramghat shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3: Variation of noise level in last shahi snaan
V. CONCLUSION Since the fact that Kumbh mela is a large mass gathering of Hindus pilgrims and an event of such magnitude present challenges. Increased population density, reduced hygienic condition and Exposure to environmental pollutant cause the effects on human health. During the monitoring of noise level, it was found that noise levels during shahi snaan’s days noise level reached an alarming level in Ujjain city. Maximum noise level in last shahi snaan was recorded as 88.2 dB(A) and exposure to such a noise level may cause feeling of annoyance, irritation and sleeplessness. The most serious health hazards associated with high level of noise exposure is deafness which initially causes temporary hearing problem while prolonged exposure to high noise level cause permanent deafness. The study concludes that in a public event like kumbh Controlling of noise pollution is impossible without making people conscious about it. By the awareness of public level of noise can be reduced to some extent. Our government and we must bring the noise pollution to an end for our own peace. With these thoughts and results following remedies are being made. 1) Planting shrubs and trees in and around sound generating sources is an effective solution for noise pollution. 2) Regulations should be imposed to restrict the usage of play loudspeakers in crowded areas and public places. 3) Social awareness programs should be taken up to educate the public about the causes and effects of noise pollution. 4) Regular servicing and tuning of automobile can effectively reduce the noise pollution. 5) Buildings can be designed with suitable noise absorbing material walls, windows and ceilings. 6) Community development or urban management should be done with long term planning, along with an aim to reduce noise level.
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Study of Noise Pollution Levels during the Festival Days of Simhastha Kumbh 2016 in Ujjain City, MP(India) (IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 039)
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