Impact of Noise Pollution during Covid-19: A Case Study of Balasore, Odisha

Abstract

Activities such as development of industrialisation, urbanisation is a part of our life in the present scenario. During this phase we face a lot of health issues due to noise pollution. Growing of vehicle traffic is one of the major causes towards noise pollu- tion and it affects significantly on the environment. The impact of such pollution had been assessed in 20 major squares (Commercial, residential and silence area) of the Balasore town during and after lockdown imposition of Covid-19. During lockdown period, the noise level of the town was within the permissible limit set by CPCB while before and after lockdown period it was beyond the permissible limit. The demo- graphics and psychophysiological (annoyance, sleeping problem, tiredness, head- ache, and depression) responses of the participants were collected using standard questionnaires. It was also observed that there were better health conditions among the public (150 participated in the questionnaire) during the lockdown period, then before and after the lockdown phase. It was revealed that socio-demographic factors have no effects on the annoyance level. Keywords: