From bigger malls to individual houses, the air conditioning units used across the city, especially on the service lanes have raised the eyebrows of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). The experts have said that the coolth (artificial cooling) from these contraptions contribute significantly to the air and noise pollution. The department is flooded with number of complaints from residents welfare association (RWAs) complaining of noise pollution by air conditioning units installed in service lane.
According to experts, these ACs create a localised heat island in the process of cooling as they release the heat out into the outer atmosphere. By continuously throwing it out, the area up to 8 feet to 10 feet gets hot. “In such cases, if the maximum temperature is 32°C, the temperature of that area increases by 5°C to 7°C. This further leads to different types of air movement and the oxygen level in the atmosphere gets depleted.
According to a complaint filed at DPCC regarding Sector 8, Rohini, some big companies have installed air conditioning units with extra large ventilation fan units on the iron mountings which are protruding out dangerously. “They are not within their allotted plot and are suspended dangerously into the service lanes thereby endangering the life and property of residents in and around them. The standard for a silence zone is 50 decibels, while it is 55 decibels for residential areas. Sound becomes painful as it reaches 120 decibels. Chronic exposure to sound beyond 85 decibels for eight hours can cause irreversible hearing loss. A 140-decibel sound impulse next to the ear can tear the eardrum. Every increase of 10 decibels makes the sound twice as loud to the human ear,” the complaint said. Officials said that similar complaints have also filed from the residents of South Extension, Hauz Khas, Qutab Institutional Area and Civil lines.
According to a report by CSE, Delhi has some of the noisiest roads in the country. For instance, the ITO intersection sees noise levels going up as high as 106 decibels due to constant vehicular honking.