Transport department to use decibel meters to check noise pollution caused by vehicles

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun

The Transport department will now use decibel meters to check noise pollution caused by vehicles across the State, the assistant transport commissioner Shailesh Tiwari said. He informed that enforcement officers from across the department attended an online training session conducted by the Transport Commissioner’s office on the use of these devices on Thursday. He informed that under Rules 119 and 120 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, specific noise limits have been defined for both private and commercial vehicles regarding sound emitted from horns and silencers.

He said that until now, enforcement officers issued challans based on their discretion in suspected noise pollution cases. For the first time, the department has equipped its enforcement teams with decibel metres to objectively measure sound levels during checks. This step is expected to reduce disputes during on-ground operations and help officers accurately assess violations in line with the prescribed norms. Tiwari said that in the first phase, the department has distributed decibel meters to 47 enforcement officers and the number of devices will be increased in the second phase. “We believe that these metres will help improve efficiency and transparency in enforcement related to vehicular noise pollution across the State,” Tiwari added.