IMA relaunches ‘no-honk’ campaign in city

Walkathon to be held today

The campaign to convert Kochi into a no-honk zone is set to gain momentum after a lull due to the pandemic, with IMA-Kochi joining hands with the MVD in organising a No-Horn Walkathon at 6.30 a.m. on Sunday from IMA Hall.

The Association of Otolaryngologists of India and National Initiative for Safe Sound (NISS) too have joined hands in the initiative that is aimed at driving home the point that the use of air horns and other high-decibel devices severely impedes mental and physical health, and that honking be done only during emergency situations.

The MVD has begun imposing penalty on vehicles that are fitted with air horns, heeding a directive issued by the Transport Commissioner.

The IMA-Kochi began a campaign against honking in 2016 in order to bring about a calm and noise-pollution free city, said Dr. V.D. Pradeep Kumar, Chairman (Kerala) of NISS. He was convenor of the IMA’s no-honk campaign. Sunday’s walkathon was preceded by an international online meet on “Noise and health”, hosted by IMA-Kerala.

“Honking must be reserved for rare instances and I have managed to stay free from honking while driving, during the past decade. The perception that honking averts accidents is not true. On the contrary, it causes them when drivers get overcome by stress and temporary deafness caused by frequent exposure to horns. It also provides them with a false sense of security, going on to become a habit.”

Continuous exposure to any noise above 75 decibels (db) has a permanent impact on one’s hearing and stress level, since this affects the hearing cells of the inner ear. It induces irritability, loss of sleep, frequent awakening during sleep and worsens depression in vulnerable people. It also worsens diabetes, and acidity, while children residing in houses located near noisy roads have problems with their attention span and scholastic performance. The Thrissur Police must be complimented for declaring the premises of Swaraj Round as a silent zone and for penalising offenders, Dr. Pradeep Kumar said, adding that the IMA could help enforcement agencies mobilise equipment such as decibel meter to measure sound pollution.

A study done by IMA with the help of SCMS Group of Institutions in 2017 found that noise pollution due to honking was the highest at nine junctions in the city – the worst being at High Court Junction, followed by Kaloor bus stand premises and Palarivattom. It also showed that 45% of bus drivers and 41% traffic police personnel had sound-induced hearing loss.

Enforcement RTO (Ernakulam) G. Ananthakrishnan said air horns and multi-tone air horns were the worst polluters, since the shrill sound they produced caused irritability.

“All KSRTC buses have converted to ordinary horns,” he said.

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