30 Decibels of Silence: Inside Lucknow’s Quietest Corner, Behind a Stadium

Tucked behind Ekana Stadium, the 37-acre CG City wetland turned out to be the quietest spot in Lucknow when a mobile sound meter was carried through five of the city’s green spaces ahead of World Listening Day on 18 July. Noise levels there ranged between just 30 and 40 decibels, as openbill storks called across the water and reeds swayed in the breeze. Birdwatchers on site spotted Sarus cranes, Oriental darters and black-winged stilts feeding along the shallows.

By comparison, Kukrail Forest registered around 59 decibels — still relatively quiet, but noticeably busier, with crickets dominating the soundscape alongside a distant peacock’s call, quacking ducks and squirrels rustling through the trees. Visitors there said the forest still offers a genuine sense of calm despite the extra ambient noise.

The city’s more frequented parks told a livelier story. At Janeshwar Mishra Park, the coppersmith barbet’s rhythmic ‘tuk-tuk-tuk’ rang through the trees alongside whistling Oriental magpie robins, chattering bulbuls, calling parakeets, and a steady cicada-and-cricket hum. Regular visitor Ramesh Srivastava said the sounds help him relax, and yoga practitioner Sunita described the park as a peaceful escape from city life.

Over at Lohia Park, birds called from the trees as leaves rustled and insects hummed through the grass; gatekeeper Manish Tiwari said most visitors come specifically for the fresh air and quiet. At the NBRI Botanical Garden, a koel’s call opened the morning before mynas, parrots, bulbuls, crows and peacocks joined in to build a full dawn chorus, with student Yashi Singh noting that the birdsong pulls visitors’ attention away from their earphones.

Experts say readings like the wetland’s 30-decibel mornings are becoming genuinely scarce in a fast-urbanising city. ‘Such natural soundscapes are now rare and can almost be counted on one’s fingertips,’ said Prof Venkatesh Dutta. Prof Adarsh Tripathi pointed to the health case for protecting them: ‘Natural soundscapes help the brain slow down, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve attention. Even a few minutes spent listening to birdsong or rustling leaves can have a calming effect and support overall mental well-being.’

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by J.M.Garg (CC BY 3.0) — a coppersmith barbet, one of the birds heard across Lucknow’s parks at dawn.