The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has directed the BBMP and Police Department to declare all major traffic junctions as ‘no honking zones’ in a bid to curb noise pollution. Authorities have been asked to display signage indicating the same.
The Karnataka High Court ordered KSPCB to direct other departments to address the issue after a Residents’ Welfare Association in Malleswaram filed a PIL about the levels of noise pollution in the area.
The city police have also been directed to regulate traffic to avoid jams; identify and take action against motorists who honk “unnecessarily”; regulate loud speakers and music and seize borewell rigs if drilling is carried out between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The BBMP has been asked to regulate developmental activities and installation of equipment, such as generators, and to prohibit all construction, except on-going metro rail works, at night.
KSPCB has directed the Transport Department to ensure that all vehicles are fitted with authorised horns and silencers, and to take measures to avoid vehicular noise.
An inter-departmental committee, set up on the HC’s order, has decided that BBMP will construct a multilevel car park at Freedom Park and Russell Market, construct skywalks with lifts and escalators, said KSPCB in a press release. The Police Department, meanwhile, has established a new Traffic Management Centre to manage traffic electronically. Between 2012 and 2014, the Police Department booked 56,303 cases for defective silencers, shrill horns and sooty emissions.
The committee also felt that the quality of footpaths should be improved and that BBMP should construct new bus shelters in consultation with the local traffic police. The committee included the KSPCB member-secretary, BBMP Commissioner, Police Commissioner, BDA Commissioner, Transport Commissioner and BMTC Managing Director.
