Noise impact assessment of an iron ore mining complex

This paper highlights a systematic procedure to evaluate the impact of noise on an iron ore mining residential complex. The L_dn values for almost all the residential, commercial and sensitive areas were found exceeding the noise standards. The type IV Double storied colony near “tertiary crushing plant” revealed maximum percentage of highly dissatisfied person (45.71 percent) with maximum L_dn values [69.7 dB(A)]. Similarly, Nehru colony was found to have minimum percentage of dissatisfied population (8.61 percent) with minimum L_dn values [54.8 dB(A)]. The noise impact assessment was carried out by comparing the existing index with the indicative index value. The existing index and indicative index were calculated on the basis of the existing noise levels and the permissible noise levels respectively. The noise stress of the settlements appears to be quite high as the existing noise impact index (0.19) was found much higher than that of the indicative noise impact index (0.083).