Noise pollution: Do not honk, reduce health problems

To reduce problems related to noise pollution, especially unnecessary honking, a national campaign, #HornFlu, was launched in Delhi on Sunday. Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram have followed suit

Fed up of noise pollution? You can join the national campaign and help reduce the pollution.

A national campaign, #HornFlu, was launched by IMA and Awaaz Foundation in Delhi on Sunday. (HT photo)

To reduce problems related to noise pollution, especially unnecessary honking, a national campaign, #HornFlu, was launched in Delhi on Sunday. Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram have followed suit. The awareness campaign was launched at the second meeting between the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Mumbai-based non-profit Awaaz Foundation.

In January, the two groups met for the first time in Chennai and agreed to link IMA’s ‘Safe Sound Initiative’ and Awaaz Foundation’s ‘Get Well Soon’ campaign, both aimed at creating awareness about the ill-effects noise pollution. “The campaign seeks to establish the dangers of honking on health by making honking itself a disease. We will be telling people about the problems faced due to honking through a medical point of view,” said Sumaira Abdulali, convener, Awaaz Foundation.

“We have started social media pages wherein people can comment or post a picture on the problems they face due to honking. The complaints will be shared with the civic body and local police stations,” said Abdulali.

A Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) analysis found Mumbai to be the noisiest city in India after a series of regular ambient noise monitoring from 2011 to 2014 in a report released in February. Bangalore and Kolkata had the least number of violations.

Panicker added that even 60 to 70 decibel levels can cause gradual hearing loss. “Our aim is to make the public aware about such serious medical problems associated with noise,” he said.