Govt fixes noise level standards for civil airports

The Union Environment Ministry has notified the noise limit for all airports across the country having movement of 15,000 aircraft and above.

As per the notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), noise level for a busy civil airport, having more than 50,000 aircraft movements per year, should not exceed beyond 75 dB(A) Leq during the daytime (6 am to 10 pm) and 65 dB(A) Leq during the night (10 pm to 6 am). For all other kinds of airports, the noise limit should not go beyond 65 dB(A) Leq during the day and 60 dB(A) Leq during the night.

DB(A) Leq here denotes the time-weighted average of the level of sound in decibels  - a unit in which noise is measured - on scale A which is relatable to human hearing. Aircraft movements entail a take-off or a landing. Other airports include those that have over 15,000 but less than 50,000 aircraft movement annually.

These standards will not be applicable either to a civil airport which has less than 15,000 aircraft movement annually or proposed airports, read the notification. It also excludes defence aircraft and aircraft landing and take-off noise from all runways earmarked by Airport Operator for this purpose.

The above-specified limits will have a tolerance limit of 10dB (A) Leq.