Keep the noise low while bursting crackers this Diwali or the district administration might land up in your area to reprimand you.

Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) has installed three real-time ambient noise-monitoring stations at Beltron Bhavan, Patliputra Industrial Area and planetarium. They will install two more — at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Station roundabout.

BSPCB would share the data collected from these terminals with the district administration and action would be taken against people of the areas from which high decibels are recorded.

S.N. Jaiswal, a scientist with BSPCB, said every city has four zones — silent, residential, industrial and commercial. “The locations of the noise-measuring terminals in Patna have been chosen in such a way that they cover all zones. PMCH is in the silence zone, Beltron Bhavan is in the residential zone, Patliputra Industrial Area is in the industrial zone, and the planetarium and Station roundabout are in the commercial zone.”

The board has spent Rs 60 lakh in acquiring these five terminals. “The three that have already been set up are already generating data. The others would be set up soon,” said Jaiswal.

The terminals are working round-the-clock. (See graphics)

Experts said Patna is a noisy city. Noise levels at most places in the city are higher than permissible limits almost throughout the year. For instance, in silent and residential zones, the prescribed limit is 50-55 decibels. But it is often over 100 decibels.

The situation becomes graver during festivals. Noise-level monitoring during Durga Puja this year (October 11 to 14) revealed that at all places in the city, it was considerably higher than the permissible limit.

The BSPCB officials will monitor the sound levels during Diwali too. Bursting of noisy firecrackers in silent zones, in which hospitals and educational institutions are included, is prohibited. “Bursting crackers that generate sound levels higher than 125 decibels is prohibited, as these can cause temporary or permanent deafness, hypertension and respiratory ailments. So, people should avoid them,” said Subhash Chandra Jha, chairman, BSPCB.