To keep noise levels in check, CSIA initiates mapping measures

CAR mandates carrying out a noise mapping study around airports, including the areas directly under the flight paths.

Airport operators have to use additional mobile noise metres to monitor noise in sensitive areas such as residential and silence zones in the vicinity of the airport.

INDIA’s aviation regulator will now lend its ears to noise concerns in neighbourhoods surrounding airports. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently issued a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) to contain noise around airports and mandates noise mapping in and around airports. With the entry of new airlines, traffic in Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) is set to go up, increasing the noise levels, forcing the DGCA to step in.

The CAR mandates carrying out a noise mapping study around airports, including the areas directly under the flight paths, assessment of the existing noise loads and the population affected, and developing a noise management action plan.
According to residents, noise levels peak at night. They claimed their complaints had fallen on deaf ears. “Flights fly so close to our roofs. It is really bothersome at night. But the airport wants our ancestral land, and our complaints have never been paid any heed to,” said Roshni Creado (61), a Sahar resident.

Airport operators have to use additional mobile noise metres to monitor noise in sensitive areas such as residential and silence zones in the vicinity of the airport.

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Consequently, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has started the process of testing and commissioning noise mapping measures. “CSIA will assess the existing noise loads due to aircraft operations within the airport, as well as background noise, and the reports on the various noise metrics will be submitted to the DGCA according to the requirements.”

MIAL had installed a noise monitoring system after the DGCA issued an environment circular in December 2013, asking airport operators to curb noise levels. The new CAR makes it mandatory.

“At CSIA, there are noise monitoring terminals installed in the flight path of the main runway and MIAL monitors aircraft noise, as well as background noise. As the airport is situated in the heart of the city, background noise plays a significant role in noise levels,” the spokesperson added.

The move has brought some hope for environmentalists, who have been seeking tighter norms to restrict noise levels.

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“This notification is a positive step. These norms, including those enforcing restrictions on flight paths and levels, need to be strictly followed by pilots and enforced by the Air Traffic Control to have some effect in Mumbai. With heavy traffic, the noise is almost constant around the Mumbai airport and in a landlocked airport, there is no buffer for noise. The planners should keep these instructions in mind even while planning the proposed Navi Mumbai airport,” said Sumaira Abdulali from Awaaz Foundation, an NGO that deals with environment-related issues.

In a noise monitoring survey, which was conducted around the Mumbai airport by Awaaz Foundation in February 2010, noise levels of up to 87dB were recorded in direct flight path near the Juhu helipad, some distance away from the aerodrome. The 85dB-87dB measured in the residential area was what industrial workers are allowed to be exposed to, eight hours a day, added Abdulali.
anjali.lukose@expressindia.com

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