Mumbai Police to launch no- honking campaign

Mumbai, Feb 5 (ANI): In a bid to bring down noise pollution, the traffic police in Mumbai has launched a no-honking campaign from Thursday.

The campaign aims to educate motorists on the need to avoid unnecessary honking. The traffic police will focus on roads like Mohammad Ali Road that produces the maximum noise pollution.

Around a hundred placards and banners will be put up in several parts of the city to discourage motorists from honking excessively.

Motorists accused of pointless honking will be fined Rs. 100, and repeated offenders may even face cancellation of their driving licenses.

The campaign is likely to be carried out for over a week.

The Idea Academy of theatre artists will also cooperate in the campaign by performing street plays on the adverse effects of unnecessary street honking on health.

Experts believe that continuous noise levels in excess of 90 decibels can cause loss of hearing and irreversible changes in nervous systems. The World Health Organization [WHO] has fixed 45 decibels as the safe noise level for a city.

Metropolitan areas in India usually register an average more than 90 decibels. Mumbai is rated the third noisiest city in the world, with New Delhi following closely.

Mumbai has a whopping 1.5 million vehicles including 110,000 auto-rickshaws and 55,000 taxis.

About 17 lakh vehicles ply on the city roads everyday.

According to a survey, most of the upper middle class households residing in metro cities own more than one vehicle. (ANI)