Effect of Traffic Composition on Environmental Noise and Development of Noise Map of Roadside School, Colleges, and Hospital Buildings

Urbanization, industrialization, and poor urban planning are the prime sources of noise pollution in cities. Traffic noise is escalating at a high rate in metro cities. Surat is the fastest growing city categorized into tier-II, located in the western part of Gujarat state of India. This study aims to enumerate the propagation of noise levels near the roadside school and college buildings by monitoring and mapping. Noise mapping is an effective tool to fulfill the noise impact analysis in the metropolitan area. In this study, five institutional buildings consisting of four colleges and one school were selected as study locations. Diurnal noise assessment was done by utilizing a KIMO sound level meter. The equivalent noise levels at all sites vary between 61.4 dBA to 75.7dBA. The highest noise level is observed at V.T. Choksi College. The collected data were mapped using ArcGIS software that represents the propagation of noise levels over the monitoring location. This study discloses that noise levels at all monitoring points surpass the standard limits given by the government of India. The noise map shows that the students, teachers, and other people in this area are exposed to urban road traffic noise. Therefore, instant strategic planning is required to decrease noise pollution levels in these areas.