Abstract
Noise pollution, at first attacks on the human auditory system, but other ailments like headache, hypertension, depression, mental irritation, sleeplessness, restlessness, cardiovascular problems and so forth are also the noise-based problems of modern era. The objective of this study was to make a general assessment of traffic noise pollution in the "Katchehry Bazaar", Faisalabad (one of the busiest roads of the city) to figure out the category of noise pollution and a mathematical model for equivalent noise level which will help to make an assessment of noise pollution only by asserting the parametric values in the model. At the observational site, the noise level was measured at 5m from center of the road by using the NA-24 RION noise level meter. The number of vehicles was counted to calculate Teq (Average traffic density/hour) on the road. The data were taken from 7: 00 am to 7: 00 pm at a regular interval of 5 minutes. In order to remove the personal, random or systematic errors, this process was repeated thrice in a week (i.e., Saturday, Sunday and Monday). Noise levels, L's in dB(A), vehicle flow, T, were observed and net traffic density, Teq, was also calculated. Mathematical models for L-eq, L-10, L-50 and L-90 for the existing noise levels were developed and their calculated values were 93.5, 96.5, 90.3 and 79 dB(A), respectively. It was, hence, found that the inhabitants living around this place were exposed for about 10-12 hours/day constantly to the noise level which falls in the very bad category that have potential to hamper their healths.