Noise Levels in Urban and Rural Settlements of Bhubaneswar: A Case Study

Noise is an underestimated threat that can cause several short- and long-term health problems. It is increasingly becoming a potential hazard to health, physically and psychologically, and affects the general well-being of an individual. The objective of the current study was to examine noise levels at ten different locations in the city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha State, India based on the land use pattern in urban and rural setup. The paper focuses on deploying geospatial techniques using ArcGIS desktop to perform better sampling and further interpolate the statistical data using the Kriging technique to generate a surface representing the distribution of noise levels in various areas. In addition, a health impact survey enabled us to understand the perspectives of the people in and around the monitoring location where health issues like stress, headache, hypertension, and sleeping disorders emerged as some of the most common issues faced. Noise levels were in the range of 43.0 to 74.5 (A) Leq. in rural areas and 61 to 96.5 dB (A) Leq in urban areas. In the current study, noise levels in rural and urban areas exceeded the recommended noise limits as per The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.