THE COST OF NOISE: There is not enough research on the social and economic cost of noise pollution in India (Pic by Subhabrata Das)

As the Court hears the case, at least one government agency seems to be making a bid to grab the bull by its horns. On 7 April, the Mumbai Traffic Police organised its first ‘No Honking Day’. “Honking without cause has increased by leaps and bounds,” says Harish Baijal, the city’s deputy commissioner of police for traffic. “Often, people don’t even realise that they are violating a law.” Honking is forbidden within a 100-metre radius of a school, a hospital or a court of law. ‘Reverse horns’, the tuneless jingles that play when a vehicle is in reverse gear, are also prohibited. With over 1.5 million vehicles in the city, the problem is getting out of hand.

Noise can have dangerous consequences. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “prolonged or excessive exposure to noise, whether in the community or at work, can cause permanent medical conditions such as hypertension and ischaemic heart disease”. Noise above 80 decibels (exceeded routinely in the city) may increase aggressive behaviour. The WHO also suggests a link between noise in the community and mental health problems. No Honking Day was timed to coincide with World Health Day. Baijal has called for a crackdown on ‘reverse horns’ and ‘multi-toned horns’ (those that give a succession of different notes). “One has to be appreciative of the move,” says Sumaira Abdulali, an environmentalist and managing trustee of Awaaz. “At least they are saying ‘let’s do something’.” But she concedes that this is a mere drop in the ocean and that the initiative “has to be sustained and escalated”.

The impact of such symbolic gestures is debatable. For starters, unless the authorities out-shout the horns (metaphorically), few will know such a day is in progress. (By 7 April, only four people had voted in favour of such a day on the DCP’s blog.) But it is equally true that governments can make a difference by turning these symbols into something more meaningful. In 1987, Brazil kicked off a Road Safety campaign that lasted 10 years, and involved multiple agencies and corporates. It was taken up again in 2000 and substantially reduced pedestrian accidents and deaths. In India, this kind of collective effort — to control not just honking, but myriad sources of noise — is yet to be seen.

It is difficult to tot up the social and economic cost of noise pollution, one reason why communities and governments might be slow to react. The social cost of just road traffic noise is “in the range of 0.1-1.4 per cent of a country’s Gross National Product, according to the method applied and the country”, estimates a 2002 report by Jacques Lambert of France’s National Institute for Transport and Safety Research. This number is harder to pin down in India. “Noise pollution is a relatively new concept,” says an official at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi’s Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme. “This might explain why there isn’t enough research.” New Delhi’s Central Pollution Control Board, too, could not provide estimates of the damage. Perhaps it is a good place to start.

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(Businessworld issue 15-21 April 2008)