• Introduction:
Noise pollution in housing societies has become a growing concern in urban and suburban areas. It refers to unwanted or excessive sound that disrupts the peaceful living environment of residents. Common sources include traffic, construction activities, loudspeakers, household appliances, and social gatherings. Prolonged exposure to noise pollution can lead to health issues such as stress, sleep disturbances, and even cardiovascular problems.
• Literature Review:
1) Guillermo Rey Gozalo & Juan Miguel Barrigón Morillas, 2016. “Analysis of Sampling Methodologies for Noise Pollution Assessment and the Impact on the Population,” IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, May.
A recent World Health Organization (WHO) publication highlights that noise pollution ranks second among environmental stressors impacting public health, and unlike other declining stressors, it is increasing in Europe. Noise pollution has both auditory and non-auditory health effects, with road traffic being the primary source. Non-auditory effects include annoyance and sleep disturbances, which can lead to stress, depression, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes.
The European Commission has recognized community noise as a major issue and introduced the European Noise Directive to assess and manage environmental noise. This directive promotes noise mapping to identify affected areas and implement control measures. The directive is also referenced by non-European countries, such as Chile, where noise assessment projects have been initiated.
2) Ferran Orga & Francesc Alías & Rosa Ma Alsina-Pagès, 2017. “On the Impact of Anomalous Noise Events on Road Traffic Noise Mapping in Urban and Suburban Environments,” IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
Environmental noise pollution is increasing due to population growth and expanding transportation systems, including highways, railways, and airways. Research highlights its negative health effects, particularly from road traffic noise (RTN), which contributes to sleep disturbances, stress, and annoyance in urban and suburban areas. Several studies confirm that RTN is the most significant source of noise pollution.
Data Collection:
For the problems above, we framed 6 questions on the Likert scale and we approached 100 students from Kohinoor Business School & others with the google form with the answers as:
Strongly agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree & Strongly disagree. These answers were coded as 5,4,3,2,1, so that the hypothesized mean is 3.
Mean 3.4 3.77 3.33 3.02 3.41 3.86
SD 1.29 1.24 1.19 1.41 1.39 1.27
SE 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.15 0.14 0.13
Z 1.07 1.36 0.82 0.89 1.25 1.5
Result Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral
An analysis of the survey of data from 100 students, which utilized Mean, Standard deviation, Standard error, and Z-scores, revealed that all Z-scores fell within the statistically neutral range (-1.96 to 1.96). This suggests that most of the respondents held neutral view on the impact of loud noise in their Housing Society.
Conclusion:
1. Most of the respondents had noise problems in their housing society
2. Approximately 40% of respondents agree that noise makes it difficult for them to concentrate on their work study at home.
3. Not a lot of conflicts have been created due to the noise created.
4. People have a balanced response towards traffic bring the major source of noise in their HSG
5. Noise from the neighbors and other activities is responded as either neutral or highly agree.
6. More than 45% responders believe that stricter rules and regulations will help reduce the noise in their housing society.