Appraisal of Noise Level Dissemination Surrounding Mining and Industrial Areas of Keonjhar, Odisha: a Comprehensive Approach Using Noise Mapping

Abstract

Noise mapping is a well-established practice among the European nations, and it has been follow for almost two decades. Recently, as per guidelines of the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), India, noise mapping has been made mandatory in the mining expanses. This study is an effort to map the noise levels in nearby areas of mines in the northern Keonjhar district. The motive of this study is to quantify the existing A-weighted time-average sound level (L Aeq, T ) in the study area to probe its effects on the human dwellings and noise sensitive areas with the probability of future development of the mines, roads, and industrial and commercial zone. The L Aeq, T was measured at 39 identified locations, including industrial, commercial, residential, and sensitive zones, 15 open cast mines, 3 major highways, and 3 haulage roads. With the utilisation of Predictor LimA Software and other GIS tools, the worked out data is mapped and noise contours are developed for the visualisation and identification of the extent and distribution of sound levels across the study area. This investigation discloses that the present noise level at 60% of the locations in silence and residential zone exposed to significantly high noise levels surpasses the prescribed limit of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India. The observed day and night time L Aeq, T level of both zones ranged between 43.2-62.2 dB(A) and 30.5-53.4 dB(A), respectively, whereas, the average L dn values vary between 32.7 and 51.2 dB(A). The extensive mobility of heavy vehicles adjoining the sensitive areas and a nearby plethora of open cast mines is the leading cause of exceeded noise levels. The study divulges that the delicate establishments like schools and hospitals are susceptible to high noise levels throughout the day and night. A correlation between observed and software predicted values gives R 2 of 0.605 for L d , 0.217 for Ln, and 0.524 for L dn . Finally, the mitigation measure is proposed and demonstrated using a contour map showing a significant reduction in the noise levels by 0-5.3 dB(A).

Short review on occupational noise exposure in the extractive industry and similar works

“…Except for one study that takes place in the construction field (Lee, Kim, & Hong, 2019), every other paper set is related to the mining industry, where the exploited commodities varied between marble (Melo Neto, Kohlman Rabbani, Barkokébas Junior, Lago, & Jonathas, 2012) to aggregates (Onder, Onder, & Mutlu, 2012) and andesite (Kosała & Stępień, 2016), limestone (Çınar & Şensöğüt, 2019), coal (Simion, Kovacs, Toth, Ilie, & Gireadă, 2017) and lignite (Srivastava, Gupta, Srivastava, & Kaur, 2010), chromite (Kerketta, Gartia, & Bagh, 2012), copper (Lilic et al, 2018) and iron (Lokhande et al, 2017).…”

“…Given that this study's aim is related to occupational exposure to noise, the experimental data was classified according to the measurement setting, which is provided in Table 1, divided into activity, equipment, job category, and working area. (Srivastava et al, 2010) x (Gupta, Roy, & A. Rajan B, 2012) x (Kerketta et al, 2012) x (Melo Neto et al, 2012) x (Onder et al, 2012) x (Cinar & Sensogut, 2013) x (Gyamfi, Amankwaa, Owusu Sekyere, & Boateng, 2016) x (Kosała & Stępień, 2016) x x (Lokhande et al, 2017) x (Simion et al, 2017) x (Lilic et al, 2018) x (Wichers et al, 2018) x (Çınar & Şensöğüt, 2019) (Lee et al, 2019) x (Mihut, 2019) x…”

Preparation of Industrial Noise Mapping and Improvement of Environmental Quality

“…Analyses are carried out in line with numerical simulations in the process of strategic noise mapping and action plans. In the literature, various noise mapping software are used in noise mapping simulations and it is observed that the most widely used noise mapping programs are SoundPLAN [ 12 , 14 , 17 , 18 , 23 , 25 , 47 – 50 ], CadnaA [ 15 , 19 – 21 , 51 , 52 ], and Predictor [ 16 , 36 , 53 ]. In the research of Butorina et al [ 12 ], SoundPLAN noise mapping software was used to analyze noise level, increasing the efficiency of the noise protection design process was carried out with the application of building information modeling (BIM).…”

“…In the research, the development of the building information model was obtained using the data exchange between SoundPLAN, AutoCAD 3D, or Revit and Navisworks. In the research of Lokhande et al [ 53 ], noise level analyses were performed surrounding mining and industrial areas of Keonjhar, and noise maps are prepared using Predictor LimA Software and other GIS tools. In the study of Jung et al [ 52 ], it was stated that noise maps were prepared with CadnaA software that is widely used for environmental impact assessments.…”

“…The vehicle road, which provides access to industrial zones, is one of the important parameters in urban planning. In the research of Lokhande et al [ 53 ], it was stated for surrounding mining and industrial areas of Keonjhar, the present noise level is at 60% of the locations in silence and residential zone exposed to high noise levels than the maximum required value determined by Indian central pollution control board and it was proposed to construct alternative transportation routes to improve the noise level.…”