On Tuesday, the State capital will witness the launch of a campaign that it has been waiting for long.
The campaign, titled National Initiative for Safe Sound (NISS), is aimed at making a difference in the capital city where loudspeakers from almost all corners have been troubling the public, unabatedly round the clock and in blatant violation of rules and regulations.
Spearheaded by the Indian Medical Association’s State chapter and the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), Kerala, the campaign owes its origin to recent surveys by various organisations terming the State to be among the noisiest places in the country.
Sound pollutionNISS will focus on awareness campaigns to educate the public about the ill-effects of noise pollution and necessary precautions.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will launch the initiative at 5.30 p.m. at the Trivandrum Club here while Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar will release an information handbook on noise pollution.
Mayor K. Chandrika will launch the NISS website.
NISS president C. John Panicker said NISS, registered as a non-profitable society, would organise youth awareness campaigns with the support of Student Police cadets and teachers; publish information booklets; broadcast awareness programmes on television, in movies and in social media; conduct seminars in association with residents’ associations, trade unions, NGOs and so on; provide helpline and legal support to victims of noise pollution; and so on.
Against honkingEfforts would be made to sensitise people to the need of avoiding unnecessary honking of vehicle horns, bringing down the volume of loudspeakers and so on during festive occasions, he said.
The serious social, emotional and health effects of noise pollution, with high-level noise having proved to cause increased blood pressure, diabetes, precipitate asthmatic attacks, giddiness, deafness and so on, had prompted the launch of NISS.