TOI: Noise mapping is a distant dream,mangroves are being hacked on World Environment Day: June 05,

GREEN EFFORTS FALL SHORT

Noise Mapping Is A Distant Dream, Mangroves Are Being Hacked. On World Environment Day, TOI Does A Reality Check ……….Mansi Choksi I TNN

A Perennially Delayed Map

Arecent survey, according to the Mumbai traffic police, pegged Mumbai as the third noisiest city in the world. But though noise levels in the city have evidently gone up, authorities are yet to wake up to the seriousness of the problem and the need to find solutionsthe first step of which would be a noise mapping exercise.

Though a small step to create awareness about traffic noise was taken in the form of observing a no-honking day in April, the noise mapping project, first announced by the MMRDA in 2004, is yet to take off.

Noise mapping, done using computer-based techniques, has already been carried out in a number of European cities. The integration of the results of noise mapping in the development control plan that is currently under revision by the MMRDA is essential in a city like Mumbai. Trying to control noise without comprehensive scientific data is like trying to control physical development without a geographical map of the city, says Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz.