Don’t honk me off

  • | Tuesday | 24th April, 2018

Noise pollutionBlowing of horns in vehicles is a major reason for noise pollution, especially in cities. ‘No-honking day’ this year is part of the Road Safety Week observed from April 23 to 30. The State government had endorsed the call for ‘No-honking day’ even in the previous year. The AOI and IMA plan to reach out to the drivers largely through social media and radio regarding the ill-effects of sound pollution . Besides, being an irritant to peace-loving commuters, the high decibel horns could harm the hearing of a yet-to-be-born child.

more-in It was an experiment that turned out to be moderately successful. However, that was encouragement enough for the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), an organisation of ENT specialists, to call for a ‘No-honking day’ in Kerala for a second time. Though ‘No-honking day’, a day on which drivers wow not to blow horns, is observed worldwide on April 26 with an aim to creating awareness on the effects of noise pollution, it was only in 2017 that, with an initiative by the IMA and AOI, the day was observed with due seriousness in the State. “We had given wide publicity to the idea and the public response was very good. For at least a week since April 26, there would be much less noise on the roads,” said O.S. Rajendran, State president of AOI and State vice-president of the National Initiative for Safe Sound (NISS), an organisation that has been working for a noise-free environment in the country for the past few years. The State government had endorsed the call for ‘No-honking day’ even in the previous year. However, this year the State Motor Vehicles Department and the Traffic Police have come up in its support. ‘No-honking day’ this year is part of the Road Safety Week observed from April 23 to 30. Noise pollution Blowing of horns in vehicles is a major reason for noise pollution, especially in cities. Besides, being an irritant to peace-loving commuters, the high decibel horns could harm the hearing of a yet-to-be-born child. It can also cause hearing impairment to newborn babies. “Sounds of intensity above 80 decibels can affect the normal hearing of a foetus, which starts developing within four to six weeks of pregnancy. Studies show that children born in hospitals near roads with heavy traffic have a greater possibility for hearing impairment at birth,” said Dr. Rajendran. The AOI and IMA plan to reach out to the drivers largely through social media and radio regarding the ill-effects of sound pollution . Blowing horns is considered a bad manner in many developed countries, a point that the campaigners plan to highlight.

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