The noise of traffic taking to the roads greets Ahmedabad every morning. However, this September 5 may be a little different as the city prepares to observe ‘No Horn’ Day on this day.
The concept is the brainchild of a student intern from the UK, who, after facing days of being annoyed by the noise of traffic on Indian roads, was determined to do something about the constant and unnecessary honking. Leonie Timmers, a student of environmental law at the University of Sussex in the UK, had come to India under a programme through AIESEC, for an internship with Paryavaran Mitra, an NGO working towards improving the environment. Also part of the internship programme is Kacrzyana Trzpiola (23), a student of environmental law at Warsaw University, Poland.
“I really wanted to make a difference in the way that traffic operates in India. Hence, I conducted some research on the observance of such days and found that a similar day had been organised in Mumbai in 2008, which inspired me to implement the idea of a ‘No Horn’ Day in Ahmedabad, too,” Timmers said.
The decision to observe this day came after an in-depth survey of 100 residents of the city, 96 per cent of which agreed that honking at traffic junctions was largely uncalled for and irritating, while 82 per cent offered their support to the initiative.
“The ‘No Horn’ Day on September 5 will see interactive discussions towards the beginning of a long-term programme for controlling noise on that day and continuing the effort beyond that for several months or years, so that India may see some actual reduction in noise levels on the roads,” Trzpiola said.
Awareness programmes in this regard will begin on September 1 while the day itself will see groups of college students marching on city roads holding large posters, requesting the public to refrain from honking unnecessarily, as well as street plays and distributions of bracelets and stickers.
“More than 70 per cent of drivers, irrespective of their age, education or social status, lack road discipline. The only way to improve this situation is by educating people through similar means, by displaying safety messages prominently,” said Vishal Mathur, a resident of Navrangpura.
Mahesh Pandya, an official of Paryavaran Mitra, said, “People in the city generally lack traffic sense. They overtake from the wrong side, honk unnecessarily, don’t respect traffic signals and rarely stop at the stop line. We are putting in a combined effort to do something about it.”
