The “road” is one of the few places, where we are unwillingly putting our lives and the lives of our family members in the hands of mostly untrained, unqualified and irresponsible people (ex: drunk drivers). We are all aware of the issues caused by unsafe and inadequately monitored driving practises, but must also take into account the harm to those around us (both on-road and people living nearby busy streets) by way of environmental pollution and increasingly important — noise pollution. It is also interesting to note that low-income countries have the highest annual road fatalities (24.1 per 100,000) and India has the highest numbers of road deaths in the world followed by China and USA. While the government is taking several initiatives to improve road safety, I take this opportunity to present certain measures to lessen the noise pollution (the Central Pollution Control Board mandates that noise level should not exceed 55dB during daytime and 45dB during night time in residential areas and 50dB and 40dB respectively in Silent Zones, such as those near hospitals ) that can be implemented in Mysore city to begin with:
Immediate
- Sign boards informing the rider that they are passing a Silent Zone to be implemented around 5 largest hospitals (phase-1) where speed limit should be reduced to less than 20km/hour and the use of horn completely banned. This will create awareness amongst people of the concept of noise pollution and that it is “harmful” and hence banned
- Creative sign boards on the harmful effects of noise pollution should be placed at 10 busiest traffic signals
- Top 10 driving schools in Mysore must be instructed to include syllabus on noise pollution
- Entrance and exit of key residential lanes should be marked and riders must be informed that they are now entering a residential zone and must keep the noise pollution to a minimum ( residents should be allowed to collectively apply for their lanes to be marked as a low noise-pollution zone and should also self-fund the required barriers and signage)
- Strict action against riders using loud music systems and 2-wheelers driving without a silencer ( online complaint form to be launched)
- Strict action against any rider using horns between 11:30PM-6:30AM ( online complaint form to be launched)
Short-term
- Marked lanes for cycles and 2-wheelers (this is the cohort that uses unnecessary horn the most, followed by yellow-number plated 4-wheelers)
- Directive to all cab aggregators operating in Mysore to have conduct training session for their partners on road safety with a specific focus on sound pollution
- Training and empowering the traffic police to recognize, identify and take action against noise pollution
- Increase green cover around the city to absorb sound (with a focus around silent zones and residential areas)
Long-term
- Interact with SIAM/ARAI to —
- Restrict the intensity (<90dB) and flow of sound waves to a very limited area around the vehicle
- At the press of the horn, the same intensity of sound should also be heard inside the vehicle, so that the rider uses it only at times of a real emergency (currently riders use their horn even when they spot a speed bump on the road!)
- After 5 consecutive horns in less than 10 seconds, it should automatically be disabled for a period of 60 seconds and there could be a 2-button press mechanism if a second round of horn is really required in times of continued emergency
- Suspension of driving license for 3 months for repeat offenders (this will help curtail excessive using of horn by commercial vehicles)
- Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to formalise a standardised training curriculum with large cab aggregators with a special focus on road safety essentials — speeding, lane discipline, excessing using of horn
- There are various reputed Road Safety NGOs around the world (21 in India, but without any website/presence); Ministry of Road Transport & Highways must further incentivise and work with these NGOs. The Road Safety Engineering Cell of the Ministry does not show any activity since July 2017
Mysore has consistently been voted as the cleanest city in India and now we should all strive for making it the safest/noise-free city in India!