Mumbai Traffic Police is often credited for its quirky social media posts that reach a bigger mass and generate a lounder impact. Recently their initiative to reduce noise pollution by schooling the city’s perpetual honkers, who cannot wait for the road to get clear and blare the horns of their vehicles even when the traffic signal is red is getting much applause.
The traffic police has installed decibel meters at certain heavy-traffic signals to deter habitual honkers from using the horn unnecessarily through a campaign named 'The Punishing Signal'. When the noise due to needless honking exceeds the dangerous 85-decibels level, the signal timer resets, entailing double waiting time for all vehicles, Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranaya Ashok told IANS.
"Mumbai is one of the noisiest cities in the world and lot of this noise is at the traffic signals where Mumbaikars honk even when they see the signal is red. Jointly with the FCB Interface, we have launched this innovative solution to arrest the honking menace," Mr Pandey said.
The decibel meters have been installed and activated at major junctions or signals at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja Terminus, Marine Drive, Pedder Road, Hindmata Cinema Dadar and Bandra.
Mumbai Police shared a video of the experiment with a short introduction by a professional actor -- in the garb of Mumbai's 'Pandu Havaldars' who once used to hide behind the signals and quickly pounce on traffic violators.
In his 'Mumbaiya' style, he opens the video that has gone viral: "Welcome! To the Honking Capital of the world..! Here, people honk even when the signal is red! Its easy, noa! Maybe they think that by honking, they can make the signal turn green faster! They just don't understand..", followed by a massive cacophony at some of the signals.
"This is intended more for creating awareness instead of punishment. Presently it is being launched on an experimental basis to study the public response," Mumbai Police spokesperson and Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranaya Ashok told IANS.
The video has gone viral with nearly 4,000 retweets in five hours. While many have lauded the efforts of the police force, many have pointed out the practical drawbacks of the initiative. Many users also raised concerns about the cases when the Ambulance or Fire tenders will get recorded in decibel meters.
Raveena Tandon teasing the honkers said, “Bajaao bajaao aur bajaao !!’ Hahahaha . Awesome”. Rajkummar Rao, Hansal Mehta called the initiative ‘Brilliant’. Other celesb like Nimrat Kaur, Man Kaul, also loved the idea.
/newsnation-english/media/agency_attachments/2024-07-23t155806234z-logo-webp.webp){kind=logo}
Follow Us/newsnation-english/media/post_attachments/images/2020/02/01/mumbaipolicehornnotok-482.jpg)