Delhi noise levels rose in 19 of the 26 areas monitored during Diwali this year, with Karol Bagh recording the highest reading at 89.1 dB(A), according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s annual assessment report released on Monday. The report found that noise levels increased by between 0.3% and 16.6% in the 19 locations compared with last year.
Sonia Vihar recorded the sharpest increase, with its noise level rising 16.6% from 64.3 dB(A) last year to 74.9 dB(A) this Diwali. Jahangirpuri recorded a 9.7% increase, moving from 74 dB(A) to 81.2 dB(A), while Mundka registered a 9.1% rise to 68.2 dB(A).
Noise levels also increased in Najafgarh, Patparganj and Wazirpur. The DPCC report recorded an 8.2% rise in Najafgarh, while Patparganj and Wazirpur saw increases of 8.4% and 7.8%, respectively. These readings show that the increase was spread across several parts of the capital rather than being limited to one neighbourhood.
Seven of the monitored areas recorded lower noise levels than last year, with declines ranging from 0.1% to 8.8%. Ashok Vihar saw the steepest fall, with its reading dropping 8.8% from 74.9 dB(A) to 68.3 dB(A). Noise levels fell by 5.7% in Connaught Place and by 1.7% in Vivek Vihar.
Karol Bagh continued to record the highest reading among the monitored locations, although its level saw a marginal decline from 89.2 dB(A) in 2025 to 89.1 dB(A) this year. Across all 26 areas, the DPCC recorded an overall Diwali noise range of 57.5 dB(A) to 89.1 dB(A).
The assessment places the latest readings within the DPCC’s continuing area-wise monitoring of festival-period noise in Delhi. The variation between locations, including the rise in Sonia Vihar and Jahangirpuri and the decline in Ashok Vihar and Connaught Place, provides a neighbourhood-level picture of how noise conditions differed across the capital during Diwali.
