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Noise rules in Kolkata: the limits, who enforces them, and how to complain
Kolkata follows India's national noise rules: 55 dB(A) by day and 45 at night in homes, night being 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. West Bengal allows only green crackers, at fixed hours on Deepawali, Chhath, Christmas and New Year, bans air horns statewide, and lets loudspeakers run outdoors only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with permission and a sound limiter. Complaints go to Kolkata Police on 100.
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The limits
The decibel limits are national, set in the Schedule to the Rules; West Bengal's job is to classify each locality into one of the four zones and to enforce them. The full text, the night restrictions and the complaint rules are on the India noise rules page.
| Area code | Category of area/zone | Day time | Night time |
|---|---|---|---|
| (A) | Industrial area | 75 | 70 |
| (B) | Commercial area | 65 | 55 |
| (C) | Residential area | 55 | 45 |
| (D) | Silence Zone | 50 | 40 |
Who enforces the rules in Kolkata
No single notification naming 'the authority' for West Bengal under rule 2(c) of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 was found, and CPCB's page of state notifications designating authorities under the Rules (updated 29 December 2025) and its February 2026 compilation have no West Bengal entry. The Department of Environment's Notification No. EN/3346/T-IV-6/001/2007 (Pt.II) of 29 December 2009 instead assigns 'Implementing and Regulating Authorities' to each noise rule in the state. Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police are named against every rule on horns, fireworks and loudspeakers. The Transport Department and the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) share the statewide air-horn ban. WBPCB, the District Authority and the 'Explosive Department, Government of India' share the ban on fireworks louder than 90 dB(A), and hospital and nursing-home managements share the ban on fireworks in hospital areas. The District Authority shares the loudspeaker rules, with WBPCB also named for loudspeaker hours. WBPCB alone handles diesel generator sets and industrial noise. Loudspeaker permission is to come from 'the competent authority i.e. Sub-Divisional Officer, Block Development Officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police'. The order directs every listed authority to take legal action on violations. The Commissioner of Police, Kolkata has also acted under the Rules directly: the Commissioner's firecracker notification of 24 October 2016 describes the Commissioner as an Executive Magistrate 'specially empowered under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000' and issues a prohibition under rule 8 (listed under the local orders). The 2005 and 2008 silence-zone notifications leave enforcement to an unnamed 'competent authority'. A newer Department of Environment notification on microphones (EN/701/3C-17/2026, 13 May 2026) has been reported, but no official copy was found.
"HENCE, all the aforementioned authorities are now hereby directed to implement the aforementioned prohibition, regulation and direction meticulously and in case of any violation, all implementing authorities should also initiate legal action in accordance with law."
Source: wbpcb.gov.in
How to complain about noise in Kolkata
- Dial 100 (Kolkata Police). Kolkata Police's contact page lists 100 for emergencies, 1090 to give information to the police and 1073 for traffic issues. It also lists the Lalbazar (headquarters) Control Room on (91 33) 2214 3024 / 2214 3230 / 2214 1310. The page gives no noise-specific line. Kolkata Police is named in the 2009 state notification as an implementing authority for loudspeakers, horns and noisy fireworks. (kolkatapolice.gov.in)
- Lalbazar Control Room (Kolkata Police headquarters). The first entry in the page's list of Kolkata Police control rooms, with a fax number. (kolkatapolice.gov.in)
- WBPCB toll-free 1800-345-3390 (generator-set pollution). An undated page on the Kolkata Municipal Corporation website gives the 'Address of Pollution Control Board for pollution from Generator set': the Member Secretary of WBPCB, with the toll-free number 1800-345-3390 and the e-mail wbpcbnet@wbpcb.gov.in. It says nothing more about what the number handles. The same toll-free number was in the footer of WBPCB's former website ('Call us at 1-800-345-3390 (toll free)', 2015 to 2020). The e-mail address and the PIN code (700 098) may be out of date: WBPCB's own documents of 2022, 2023 and 2025 give net.wbpcb-wb@bangla.gov.in and Kolkata 700 106. Read live on 2 October 2026. (kmcgov.in)
Under Rule 7 a complaint can be made when noise exceeds the zone limit by 10 dB(A) or more, or when a night-time restriction is broken. A reading from the free online decibel meter, taken with A-weighting over a full minute and noted with the time, helps describe the problem. It is an uncalibrated estimate of about ±10 dB, not evidence on its own; the authority measures with a calibrated instrument.
Local orders in Kolkata
Firecrackers: 90 dB(A) at five metres, no sound crackers at night (WBPCB, 2013)
The National Green Tribunal's judgment of 21 August 2013 required WBPCB to amend its 1997 firecracker order and reconcile it with the Environment Ministry's notification of 05-10-1999, while giving it 'liberty to take independent decision', in consultation with CPCB, if a lower noise level was found necessary for specific reasons; an NGT order of 25 September 2013 gave it four more weeks. WBPCB kept West Bengal's own limit: no more than 90 dB(A) impulse noise measured five metres from the source. Among its reasons, the order records protests against 'permitting the firecrackers noise level to 125 dB(A) at 4 metre distance'. The order bans sale and use of louder crackers anywhere in the state and bans any firecracker in silence zones. It also bans sound-emitting crackers at night; the hours were fixed by a corrigendum (next entry). It cites WBPCB board resolutions of 1997 and 1999 fixing the 90 dB(A) at five metres limit, and records that the Environment Ministry accepted it for West Bengal by a memo of 26.09.2000. The same limit appears in the 2009 state notification and in WBPCB's 2025 puja undertaking form. For green crackers WBPCB has since given a different figure: its festival SOP circular of 17 October 2023 (below) allows sound-emitting green crackers up to 125 dB(A) and light-emitting ones up to 90 dB(A), measured at 4 metres. No document found says which figure prevails, so 90 dB(A) at five metres should not be given as the current limit for green crackers.
"a) The maximum permissible noise level of the firecrackers at the time of bursting within the State of West Bengal must not exceed 90 dB(A) impulse noise at five meters from the source; ... c) There shall be complete ban on bursting of any kind of firecrackers in silence zones; d) There shall be complete ban on sale and use of firecrackers generating noise more than 90 dB(A) impulse at a distance of five meters in the State of West Bengal."
Source: West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Order, Memo No. 1594/3L/WPB-B(III)/2013 (PART), 2013-10-09.
No sound-emitting firecrackers from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (WBPCB corrigendum, 2013)
Clause (b) of the 9 October 2013 order said '10 P.M. & 6 P.M'. WBPCB corrected it the next day: sound-emitting firecrackers are banned between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The rest of the order stands.
"should actually read as “There shall be a complete ban on bursting sound emitting firecrackers between 10 P.M. to 6 A.M.”"
Source: West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Corrigendum, Memo No. 1605/3L/WPB-B(III)/2013 (PART), 2013-10-10.
Green crackers only, at fixed hours on Deepawali, Chhath, Christmas and New Year (WBPCB, 2021)
WBPCB's order of 26 October 2021 bans the sale and bursting of all firecrackers except green crackers in West Bengal 'till further orders in this respect'. Green crackers may be burst only from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. during Deepawali, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. during Chhath Puja, and 11.55 p.m. to 12.30 a.m. on Christmas and New Year's Eve. For any other occasion, the District Magistrate, Commissioner of Police or Superintendent of Police must give prior permission, for no more than two hours. District Magistrates and Commissioners or Superintendents of Police are to implement it and send WBPCB daily action-taken reports. It was issued under section 31(A) of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, in compliance with the Supreme Court's 2018 judgment in W.P.(C) 728 of 2015 and NGT orders of 2020, and gives air quality and COVID-19 among its reasons. The order names Deepawali; it does not mention Kali Puja by name. The Calcutta High Court quoted it in its order of 11.10.2022, WBPCB's festival SOP of 17 October 2023 repeats the same hours, and WBPCB's 2025 puja undertaking form restates it. The order is a scan with a handwritten memo number, read from a Common Crawl capture of WBPCB's site taken on 3 October 2022.
"In the State of West Bengal only green crackers can be sold and bursting of such crackers shall be allowed for (i) two hours during Deepawali festival from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (ii) two hours during Chatt Puja from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. (iii) 35 minutes during Christmas & New years’ eve from 11.55 p.m. to 12.30 a.m."
Source: West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Order, Memo No. 321-3L/WPB-E(VI)/2020, 2021-10-26.
Festival SOP: green crackers up to 125 dB(A) (sound) or 90 dB(A) (light) at 4 metres; loudspeaker boundary limit; no DJs (WBPCB, 2023)
WBPCB's circular of 17 October 2023 sets a Standard Operating Procedure for domestic or community festivals, celebrations and pujas, issued in compliance with a Calcutta High Court order of 07.08.2023 in WPO (P)/5/2022. It says no sound-emitting green crackers (CSIR-NEERI formulation) louder than 125 dB(A), and no light-emitting green crackers louder than 90 dB(A), measured 4 metres from the point of bursting, will be allowed, and it repeats the 2021 green-cracker hours. Microphones need police or district permission and a sound limiter, and none may be used within 100 metres of an educational institution, hospital, nursing home or court. At the boundary of a public place where a loudspeaker, public address system or other noise source is used, noise may not exceed the area's ambient standard by more than 10 dB(A), or 75 dB(A), whichever is lower; a privately owned sound system may not exceed the standard by more than 5 dB(A) at the boundary of the private place. DJ sets and 'Hi-pitch' sound boxes are barred in the open air and in immersion processions, and organisers are liable for violations. WBPCB sent it to all Commissioners of Police, District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police and clubs by Memo No. 407-2L/WPB-H(X)/2022 of 27.12.2023 (circular and memo numbers and the circular's date are handwritten). It states no end date. WBPCB's 2025 puja form still uses the older 90 dB(A) at five metres figure for fireworks. Read from a Common Crawl capture of WBPCB's site taken on 15 July 2026, because wbpcb.gov.in could not be reached.
"No noise making green firecrackers as per the formulation of CSIR - NEERI, which generates noise more than 125 dB(A) and light emitting green firecrackers above 90 dB(A) measured at a distance of 4 meters from the point of bursting will be allowed."
Loudspeakers only 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with permission and a sound limiter (state notification, 2009)
The Department of Environment's 2009 notification lets loudspeakers be used in the open only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and only after permission from the Sub-Divisional Officer, Block Development Officer or Deputy Commissioner of Police. Microphones must keep within the national ambient noise limits, and a sound limiter must be fitted to the amplifier when a microphone is used in the open. Kolkata Police, West Bengal Police, the District Authority and WBPCB enforce. The notification also banned loudspeakers in the open from three days before Secondary and Higher Secondary examinations until they end; the 2013 order below cancelled all earlier orders on exam-time use. The quote joins three paragraphs of one cell of the notification's two-column table. A Department of Environment notification of 13 May 2026 on microphones and loudspeakers has been reported, but no official copy was found; it may add to or change these rules.
"loudspeaker should be used only from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M. in open area after obtaining necessary permission from the competent authority i.e. Sub-Divisional Officer, Block Development Officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police. Permissible ambient noise level as notified by the Government of India under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 should be maintained during the use of microphones. During the use of microphone in open air, sound limiter should be attached with amplifier for regulating noise level."
Source: Government of West Bengal, Department of Environment, Notification No. EN/3346/T-IV-6/001/2007 (Pt.II) (hosted by WBPCB), 2009-12-29.
Air horns banned; no honking in silence zones; generator sets need WBPCB permission (2009)
The same 2009 notification bans the use, sale and manufacture of air horns throughout West Bengal. It bans honking in silence zones, which it lists as educational institutions, libraries, courts, Governor House, hospitals and nursing homes, and bans fireworks of any kind in hospital and nursing-home areas. Diesel generator sets must keep within the national ambient noise limits, and sets of 15 KVA and above may not be installed or run without WBPCB's prior permission. The quote joins cells of the notification's two-column table and keeps the notification's backtick (`) as an opening quotation mark.
"Use, sale and manufacturing of air horns are totally prohibited in the State of West Bengal. Honking of horns is strictly prohibited in `Silence Zone area’ i.e. Educational Institution, Library, Court, Governor House, Hospital and Nursing Home. ... The Diesel Generator Set of 15 KVA and above should not install or operate without prior permission of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board."
Source: Government of West Bengal, Department of Environment, Notification No. EN/3346/T-IV-6/001/2007 (Pt.II) (hosted by WBPCB), 2009-12-29.
Sound limiters required on microphones used outdoors (WBPCB, 2004)
WBPCB directs every microphone user in West Bengal to fit a sound limiter when using a microphone in the open. It asks police and district authorities to make a sound limiter a condition of every microphone or loudspeaker permission. It asks the Commissioner of Police, District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police to circulate the order to the officers 'generally authorized to give permission for the use of microphones', listed as 'upto the rank of' Deputy Superintendent of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police, officers in charge of police stations, Sub-Divisional Officers, Block Development Officers and Deputy Magistrates. WBPCB's 2023 festival SOP also requires a sound limiter on microphones, and its 2025 puja form still cites this order, together with Department of Environment notifications of 03.02.2020 and 04.03.2020 on audio systems and microphones fitted with sound-limiting devices, which were not found.
"all the users of microphones within the State of West Bengal are hereby directed to use sound limiter at the time of using microphones in the open area positively to avoid penal action as warranted under the aforementioned Act and Rules made thereunder."
Source: West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Order No. 1853-4K-5/2004, 2004-08-27.
No microphones or loudspeakers near schools or homes during board exams (2013)
From three days before the Secondary and Higher Secondary examinations of any board or council until they finish, microphones and loudspeakers are banned in residential areas and wherever educational institutions are situated. The order applies every year until further order, and it cancelled all earlier orders on the subject. The Department of Environment's notifications page still listed it in February 2025. It directs District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kolkata to comply; WBPCB, West Bengal Police, Kolkata Police and district authorities act on violations.
"the Governor is pleased hereby to prohibit the use of microphone or loudspeaker in residential areas or where educational institutions are situated three days prior to the commencement of Secondary and Higher Secondary Examination conducted by any Board or Council and till completion of such examination"
Source: Government of West Bengal, Department of Environment, Order No. EN/326/T-IV-6/001/2007(Pt.-I), 2013-02-05.
Named silence zones in central Kolkata (2008)
A Kolkata Gazette notification declared three silence zones in Kolkata where schools and colleges are situated. They are the stretch from Medical College Hospital to Presidency College, St. Xavier's College and La Martiniere School, each with 100 metres around, and 100 metres from the roads beside SSKM Hospital. It adds to the statewide 2005 declaration (described under silence zones).
"(a) Medical College Hospital to Presidency College and its 100 meters surroundings; (b) St. Xavier’s College and La Martiniere School and its 100 meters surroundings; (c) 100 meters from the Roads adjacent to Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM)."
Source: Government of West Bengal, Department of Environment, Notification No. EN/296/(S), Kolkata Gazette Extraordinary of 12 February 2008 (hosted by WBPCB), 2008-02-07.
Silence zones
A 2005 state notification declares 100 metres around every Government hospital in Kolkata, the districts and sub-divisions, and around the High Court and all other courts in the districts and sub-divisions, as silence zones. A 2008 notification added three named zones in central Kolkata (listed under the local orders). The 2009 state notification says educational institutions, hospitals and nursing homes 'have already been notified' as silence zones, where honking, firecrackers and loudspeakers are strictly prohibited within 100 metres of a designated silence zone. It asks heads of hospitals, nursing homes, courts, universities, colleges and schools to put up silence-zone display boards. WBPCB's 2025 puja form treats school and court areas as silence zones only on working days during office hours; its 2023 festival SOP bars microphones within 100 metres of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and courts without that exception. No official current list or map of Kolkata's silence zones was found.
"the Governor is hereby pleased to declare an area of 100 metres around all the Govt. Hospitals in Kolkata, in Districts & in Sub-Divisions, along with an area of 100 metres around the High Court and all other Courts in Districts and in Sub-Divisions in the State of West Bengal as “Silence Zone” from the date of the publication of this notification."
Source: wbpcb.gov.in
How loud Kolkata measures
WBPCB runs a Continuous Noise Monitoring System with a public map at noisedata.wbpcb.gov.in. On 2 October 2026 the station list behind its map held 293 stations statewide. By our count (WBPCB publishes no Kolkata total), 17 of them carry the district label 'Kolkata'. Twelve are zoned as silence zones, mostly colleges: Ballygunge Campus (C.U.), Bethune College, East Calcutta Girls College (Lake Town), Jadavpur University, Lady Brabourne College, Loreto College, Maulana Azad College, Presidency University, Sarojini Naidu College for Women, Sarsuna College, Vivekananda College for Women (Barisha) and Aurus (Tangra). Three are residential (Avidipta Housing Complex, Flora Fountain, Urbana Housing Complex) and two commercial (Dhapa Lock Pumping Station, Leather Complex). Besides the live map, the portal has a 'Historic Data' view (readings at roughly ten-minute intervals for a chosen station and dates, with Excel and PDF export) and a 'Charts' view; no published annual or festival summary was found. WBPCB's former noise-monitoring page (unchanged from August 2015 to June 2020) described five automatic stations in Kolkata (Salt Lake/Paribesh Bhavan, KMC Buildings, Kasba industrial area, SSKM Hospital, Baishnabghata-Patuli) and said noise monitoring is specially done on festive days. WBPCB's Kali Puja/Diwali noise reports for recent years could not be retrieved.
Source: noisedata.wbpcb.gov.in
What is the noise limit in Kolkata at night?
In a residential area, 45 dB(A) Leq from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and 55 dB(A) by day, under the national Schedule that applies in Kolkata. Silence zones are held to 40 at night and 50 by day, commercial areas to 55 and 65, and industrial areas to 70 and 75.
How do I complain about noise in Kolkata?
Call Kolkata Police on 100, or its Lalbazar control room on the numbers its contact page lists. The state's 2009 notification names Kolkata Police as an enforcing authority for loudspeakers, horns and noisy fireworks. For pollution from generator sets, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's website gives the West Bengal Pollution Control Board's toll-free number, 1800-345-3390.
What is the firecracker noise limit in Kolkata?
The West Bengal Pollution Control Board's 2013 order sets 90 dB(A) impulse noise, measured five metres from the source, and a 2013 corrigendum bans sound-emitting crackers from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Since 2021 only green crackers are allowed, at fixed hours. The board's own documents now disagree on the limit for green crackers: its 2023 festival circular allows sound-emitting green crackers up to 125 dB(A) at four metres, while its 2025 puja form still cites 90 dB(A) at five metres, and no document says which prevails.
More
- India's national noise rules, quoted from the CPCB text
- Noise rules in Delhi
- Noise rules in Mumbai
- Noise rules in Bengaluru
- Noise rules in Chennai
- Noise rules in Hyderabad
- Noise rules in Pune
- How loud Kolkata is on the world sound map
- The noise complaints guide: what to log before you call
Read from official sources on 2026-10-02: the documents linked beside each statement, and the national Rules as published by the Central Pollution Control Board at cpcb.gov.in. A plain-language summary, not legal advice; the Rules, state notifications and court orders control.