Ghaziabad: Noise pollution in the city breached permissible limits by a significant margin during Diwali celebrations on Nov 8 night, with residential zones recording some of the highest violations. UP Pollution Control Board Ambient Noise Quality data showed Diwali day noise level was nearly double the UPPCB’s safe limit standard — ambient noise standards for residential areas are 50 dB(A) by day and 40 dB(A) at night. However, Diwali night was quieter this year as compared to the last three years.UPPCB had set up two noise pollution monitoring stations in the city at Vasundhara Sector 16 and Model Town a week before Diwali to get comparative noise pollution data. On Diwali day (Nov 8), the ambient noise was recorded at 76.98 dB(A) from 2 pm to 12 am at Vasundhara. At Model Town station, it was recorded at 76.98 dB(A).“On Nov 1, the reading for the same time period at Vasundhara Sector 16 station was 60.31 dB(A), and at Model Town station, it was 59.93 dB(A). It was about 17 notches more,” an UPPCB official said.At the Vasundhara Sector 16 station, noise on Diwali day was 79.26 dB(A) last year, 80 dB(A) in 2024 and 87.1 dB(A) in 2023. At Model Town, the readings were 75.66 dB(A) in 2025, 78 dB(A) in 2024 and 79.3 dB(A) in 2023.The dB(A) scale accounts for the sensitivity of human hearing to different frequencies and is the most common measure of noise because it reflects how people perceive sound.Ambient noise standards for commercial areas are 55 dB(A) by day and 45 dB(A) at night. Industrial clusters have limits of 75 dB(A) by day and 70 dB(A) at night.
