Sirens, horns: Gadkari’s ‘delightful but mad’ idea

As The Times puts it, “The sound of a horn is the sound of an emergency.” That’s even more true of a siren. the minister must not interfere with sirens on police vehicles, ambulances, and fire brigades. They need to make us jump to attention and immediately make way

Nitin Gadkari is a journalist’s joy. He has a knack for saying things that make headlines. The knowing twinkle in his eyes suggests that he’s aware of the impact he’s going to make. But I wonder if he expected that his reflections on car horns and sirens would inspire a leader in the London Times?

In a speech last Tuesday in Nashik, the transport minister said the harsh sound of car horns and the screech of sirens are “irritating”. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

In a speech last Tuesday in Nashik, the transport minister said the harsh sound of car horns and the screech of sirens are “irritating”. He added, “especially after ministers pass by, the sirens are used at full volume”. He’s spot on. However, The Times says his solution “to replace horns (and sirens) with music is delightful but mad”.

“I am studying this and soon planning to make a law that the horns of all vehicles should be in Indian musical instruments so that it is pleasant to hear. Flute, tabla, violin, mouth organ, harmonium”, Gadkari said, according to PTI. “I want to put an end to sirens as well”.

In fact, speaking specifically about ambulances, the minister’s ideas are particularly imaginative. He wants to use the All India Radio signature tune. “An artist composed a tune for Akashwani, and it was played early in the morning. I am thinking of using that tune for ambulances so that people feel pleasant.”

Now, if you hate the babel of horn and siren on Indian streets, Gadkari’s vision of the future sounds almost melodic. “Instead of a cacophony of tuneless noise”, TheTimes leader commented, “the typical Indian street could be transformed into a cacophony more like that of an orchestra, admittedly before it picks a tune”. This will certainly take care of the specific problem that provoked Gadkari’s comment. No longer will the discordant sound of the traffic below his 11th floor flat disturb his equilibrium when he’s doing yoga. But, beyond that, is it a wise idea?

As The Times puts it, “The sound of a horn is the sound of an emergency.” That’s even more true of a siren. “It’s not meant to sound nice. It’s meant to feel like a cold bucket of water to the face”. Music could have the opposite effect. You might even continue with whatever action the horn or siren was intended to instantly stop.

The answer, surely, is to sharply reduce our use of horns and sirens rather than change the sound they make. Most Indian drivers keep their thumb on the horn, ready to press it at the first excuse. It’s trigger action, which is why you hear it all the time. In contrast, you hardly hear the hoot of a horn in London. If you do, it’s done in anger, and doesn’t fail to embarrass the driver or pedestrian it’s intended for.

The problem is, how do you get Indians to stop honking? Delhi, in 2014, introduced fines for horns near hospitals and schools, but it hasn’t made a jot of difference. The Times says that’s also true of several cities in China, Kathmandu, and Lima, where horns have been banned, but their blast remains as loud and frequent as ever. New York even introduced a hefty fine for inappropriate honking, and plastered the city with “Don’t honk” signs. It had no impact, and the campaign was given up a decade ago.

So, halting horns could be an insuperable problem for the minister, but silencing sirens — particularly those on ministers’ cars — he can achieve with greater ease. If he orders his colleagues and they listen to him, the sirens on their cars should cease. Fortunately, he’s far too important for his fellow Cabinet members to ignore.

But the minister must not interfere with sirens on police vehicles, ambulances, and fire brigades. They need to make us jump to attention and immediately make way. The “dawn chorus” from All India Radio, even if it’s played on a mouth organ, won’t have the same effect. And it really doesn’t matter if a police siren or a rushing ambulance disturbs the minister’s yoga.

Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story

The views expressed are personal