Noise monitoring stations will be music to weary ears in Dubai

Dubai: To enforce tighter monitoring over noise pollution – one that is becoming exceedingly popular due to a boom in construction – the civic body aims to set up noise monitoring stations across the city.

“There are many types of pollutions that we monitor, and noise pollution is one of them because it has a health impact [on residents]. We expect a huge amount of projects to start in the next three years, and will start carrying out the survey to set up noise monitoring stations by July,” said Hind Mahmoud Ahmad, Head of Environmental Planning and Studies Section, Environment Department, at Dubai Municipality.

Noise pollution affects both the health and behaviour of people, and can cause hypertension, high stress levels, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects.

“During the survey, we will study how many noise monitoring stations we need and where they should be located. We will study residential, commercial and industrial areas. Our inspectors are now equipped with portable ones and will continue to use them even after the monitoring stations are running, to follow up on complaints,” explained Ahmad.

The main sources of noise pollution at concrete batching plants include hydraulic pumps, truck and front end loader engine noise, and conveyor belts. Dubai Municipality recorded a rise of 18 per cent in the number of industrial premises from 2012-2013, although the quantitative figures were not released.

“The stations will provide us with live feed of the noise level in the area so we can have an exact indication on whether construction companies are complying with the rules and regulations,” she said.

As part of its stance against monitoring pollution, the Environment Department also intends to double the number of air monitoring stations within two years that will cover more industrial and urban areas.

There are 14 air monitoring stations in Dubai – a jump from five stations in 1994 – that read the levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter, also known as PM10.

The World Health Organisation considers PM10 to be a “measure of the complex mix of particles, dust and gases that result from fuel combustion in vehicles and power generators.”

The stations further read meteorological data, humidity, density and solar radiation.

Ahmad pointed out that air pollution is made up by several factors, such as the increase in vehicles, the increase in industrial premises, and the increase in power consumption.

“We used to have a website that provided residents with information related to the weather and air pollution, but that has been temporarily closed down as we are working on enhancing its features that will provide more information than it previously did,” she said.