India, July 23 -- East Delhi's Shahdara turned into a deafening zone as thousands of Kanwariyas, armed with blaring boomboxes, converged at this choke point en route to their homes in nearby parts of Delhi, as well as far off places in northern Haryana like Bahadurgarh and Rohtak, and even some parts of Rajasthan.

Among all the places, Shahdara has had it the worst, with the noise pollution reaching as high as 87.5 decibels during the day on Tuesday (16-hour average from 6am to 10pm).

Shahdara, one of the most commonly used routes for the Kanwar yatra, turns into a 24x7 passageway of non-stop religious processions as trucks and vehicles are laden with several boomboxes playing deafening music as they pass through the area.

Residents sa...