‘Directive on silence zones a good start’

In Germany, you could be hauled up for just shouting excessively inside your own house.

Under the Road Traffic Act in Singapore, those who blare their horns while their vehicles are stationary can be fined 70 Singapore dollars, be charged in court and end up spending three months in prison jail.

In New York, a fine of 125 dollars would be slapped on someone creating noise pollution.

Compare this with aamchi Mumbai, where you could honk till your horn falls off, and yet not elicit any response from anyone, whether it is citizens, the police, the traffic police or the BMC.

No wonder then that Sumaira Abdulali, Mumbai’s solitary crusader against sound pollution is thrilled with the Bombay High Court directive on Thursday, which asked the government to issue a notification to demarcate “silence zones” in the city.

“While this is a good start, we are a long way from enforcing it,” said Abdulali. The area surrounding the high court, for instance, is theoretically a silence zone — you’ll find boards that say ‘no honking’ in all the bylanes nearby etc. But that does not stop people from honking.

“The noise on any road in the city, whether it is in a silence zone or not — is in the vicinity of 75 dB. And with horns, it goes up to 100 dB. I measured sound at Crawford Market on Wednesday and recorded sounds of 100 dB and more,” said Abdulali.

Hospitals, whether it is Sion Hospital, which is located at a junction or the posh Jaslok hospital located on an arterial road, or the trio of Tata memorial, Wadia and KEM hospitals in Parel, patients in all of them have to plug their ears. “This is why the demarcation is crucial. Once the demarcation is done, the city planners can activate noise mitigation measures whereas as the police can enforce the law,” said Abdulali.

Court orders are a tool, now implementation is up to citizens, added the activist, who runs Awaaz Foundation.