Albania is a cacophony that finds no peace day or night. Everyday life is defined by car horns, the sound of mufflers, sudden braking and acceleration, whistling and screaming, construction sites and much more. Traffic is the main cause of noise, but not the only one. The report of the National Environment Agency refers that in every city where the noise level has been measured, it has resulted higher than the limit level that they should have. Lushnja is the only city that stays within the limits during the day and night, while Kukës and Përmet only at night.
"Noise monitoring was carried out in the cities of Tirana, Shkodër, Vlora, Lezhë, Kukës, Korçë, Pogradec, Berat, Saranda, Gjirokastër, Fier, Përmet, Lushnje. Based on monitoring data during 2024, the noise level exceeds the limit values for the daytime period (55 dB) in all monitored cities, excluding the city of Lushnje.
For the night period (45 dB) the noise level in the cities of Kukës, Përmet and Lushnje is within the limit values, while in the other monitored cities, it exceeds the limit values. The main cause of noise emission is road traffic. Also, premises generate noise both day and night," the report states.
According to the document, based on daytime noise monitoring data, the highest noise level was estimated in the city of Tirana, where the norm was exceeded by 15.1%, Vlora by 14.7%, Saranda by 13.6%, and Gjirokastra by 11.1%. The lowest levels were monitored in the cities of Kukës, Pogradec, Përmet and Lushnje. Road traffic is a phenomenon of random nature, for this reason we say that the impact of traffic or any other external factor that causes noise at the time of monitoring may be the cause of the decrease or increase in the level of urban noise in the cities being monitored.
Regarding noise monitoring at night, the data shows that the highest level was monitored in the city of Vlora, where the norm was exceeded by 18.75%, Tirana by 16.51% and Saranda by 14.6%, and the lowest levels were monitored in the cities of Kukës, Pogradec, Përmet and Lushnje./ MONITOR
