Bucharest - the only Romanian city with a noise map

Bucharest - The Romanian capital is buzzing at 70 decibels - way over accepted limits - according to municipal experts, who measured the level of noise pollution in the course of one year. Bucharest is the only city in the country to have had its noise mapped.

Nine Romanian municipalities - with over 250,000 inhabitants - are to draw up acoustic maps by April 1 2007, according to Government Decision 321/2005 regarding the evaluation and management of ambient noise.

According to the law, the elaboration of noise maps should be followed by measures of reducing noise pollution which might come into effect next year.

Bucharest is the first Romanian city with an acoustic map. According to measurements taken by specialists in the last year - for which the City Hall paid almost EUR 2 M - the capital is "buzzing" at over 70 dB. This is the average noise value within city limits, almost twice as much as normal exposure for the human ear.

The capital's noisiest areas are the city's centre (Magheru Blvd.) and the Ghencea Neighbourhood, where mean values, as measured by experts, exceed 75 dB (peaking at 81 dB). The "quietest" area of the city is the Drumul Taberei Neighbourhood, where 53-dB average values were recorded.

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