Impacts assessment of traffic noise: a case study in two Business Commercial Roads of Karachi

Road Traffic is a primary source of noise pollution becoming worse each day due to increase number of vehicles, inadequate infrastructure and necessity to commute during same hours. This can critically upset the quality of life in an urban city like Karachi. The purpose of present study was to examine the level of noise pollution due to transportation and its impacts on human health. For this purpose, two busiest business commercial roads of Karachi, M. A. Jinnah Road and Shahrah-e-Faisal were selected for measuring noise level at different timings of the day throughout the week during last week of April 2018. Collected data was statically analyzed by SPSS software. According to the research findings, the calculated average equivalent sound pressure levels were Leq 88.07dB at Old Radio Station Building, M. A. Jinnah Road and 86.09dB at Aisha Bhawani College, Shahrah-e-Faisal which is far above the acceptable limit of SEQS (Sindh Environmental Quality Standards). It is recommended that legislations and proper mitigation measures including noise barrier and absorbent installation to control this unseen pollution is needed to prevent noise impact on human health.