the doors and windows of p pankajs house on nungambakkam high road are perpetually shut but that doesnt help shut out the perpetual cacophony we have also put up curtains but there is no escaping the noise it is a part of our living room says the 29yearold nungambakkam t nagar guindy madhya kailash and perambur are some of the noisiest neighborhoods in the city t nagar in 2014 recorded a noise level of above 75db decibel the maximum limit for industrial areas on 190 occasions this is the highest among all the areas monitored in the city chennais ambient noise levels are consistently above the permissible levels urban planners and experts say unregulated and haphazard development including increasing traffic has led to rise in noise pollution the car population too has increased fourfold in less than two decades while the number of twowheelers has tripled the citys south zone which includes areas like tambaram and thiruvanmiyur has nearly thrice the number of cars in madurai and tirunelveli put together the population density 14000 people per square kilometre adds to the din in the city centre boom in real estate construction of infrastructure projects like metro rail and at least 10 flyovers and subways also con tribute to the noise tribute to the noise with the city expanding officials from the tamil nadu pollution control board say the noise has reached the suburbs rapid increase in vehicular population along with unplanned growth has led to the increasing commotion in the suburbs said a tnpcb official to curb noise pollution the chennai metropolitan development authoritys second master plan 2026 notes that some busy streets could be declared pedestrian precincts in consultation with the residents however there is not a single authority that has the power to book and fine violators noise pollution comes from different sources while we monitor its levels across the state we cannot fine any of the violators said a retired tnpcb official we can only direct the concerned stakeholders to take action he added while there are no studies in chennai to correlate noise and loss of productivity a world health organisation report concluded that more than 10 lakh disability adjusted lifeyears are lost every year due to trafficrelated noise in western europe there is a steady increase in the incidence of high frequency hearing loss in many people who have resided in chennai all their lives and this can be only attributed to the effects of noise pollution but this is difficult to prove because there are other factors like listening to loud music said professor mohan kameswaran managing director merf doctors say the onset of age of hearing loss among chennaiites has reduced