Remember Deepak Das — the Kolkata based driver who won an award for not honking for 18 years? Seems like he has inspired a lot of people to curb the menace of noise pollution.
To fight noise pollution, Assam Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi on Monday, January 1, launched the ‘No Horn Please’ campaign at Raj Bhawan in Guwahati. Conceptualised by a social development organisation — Byatikam, this campaign has been launched for 90 days throughout Guwahati. Through the campaign, the Assam government aims to generate large-scale awareness against noise pollution in hopes that it would act as a deterrent.
Jagdish Mukhi said,
Our ears can bear noises up to a certain limit. Exceeding the maximum limit can lead to different diseases. To get a solution to this problem we must reduce the sound produced around our surroundings.
According to World Health Organization, human ears can endure noise levels up to 70 decibels and continuous exposure to sound levels beyond that can cause hearing loss/damage.
Horn OK Please
Though Assam is not the first state in India to work towards reducing noise pollution. Take a look at other such initiatives across India:
Aizawl became India’s first city with a No Honking Policy
In order to manage traffic and fight noise pollution in Mizoram’s capital, Aizawal became the first city in the country to implement a No Honking Policy. In October 2017, all vehicles (including those government-owned) in Aizawl remained off road thrice a month depending on the last digit of their number plate.
Mumbai launches anti-noise pollution drive
According to a central government data released earlier this year, the average level of noise pollution generally exceeded the permissible limits in seven cities of the country — including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. In order to reduce noise pollution, Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Mumbai started a 15-day drive from December 30, 2017, to urge motorists to refrain from honking.
Gangtok bans honking
In January last year, the government of Sikkim decided to ban honking in the state’s capital, acting on Sikkim Hotel and Restaurant Association’s (SHRA) proposal to set rules to minimize vehicular honking as it disturbed tourists.
Various other cities across the country — like Thiruvananthapuram, Nashik etc — observe No Honk Days from time to time to generate awareness and reduce noise pollution.
Also read: Smog alert! These easy hacks might just help you fight Delhi’s air pollution
