Delhi's noise pollution as bad as its air but police turn a deaf ear to cars honking

Loud horns and traffic snarls have made travelling on Delhi roads a harrowing experience. Delhi’s poor air quality grabs all the attention and headlines but noise has been largely ignored.

A large number of Delhi residents spend two hours or more every day commuting by road to their workplaces and back. The noise is stressful and causes irritation, admits Shubhojit Dasgupta. “I use a two-wheeler to commute. By the time I reach home after the day’s work, I am exhausted and irritable. Delhi motorists honk needlessly,” says Dasgupta who lives near Dilshad Garden and travels to his office in Jhandewalan in central Delhi.

That’s the story of almost every person who has to hit the road daily for work.

The horns do have adverse effects on mental and physical health, say experts. “Any kind of loud noise causes anxiety and stress, which affect not just the heart but also overall health of people. Any stress, physical or emotional, can lead to heart diseases,” says Dr. Shadab Samad, Consultant Cardiologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali, and adds, “They may cause high blood pressure, which in turn may lead to other serious complications.”

A doctor residing in Yamuna Vihar complains, “People just don’t seem to have any civic sense or road sense. To cite just one example, at a traffic signal, the moment the light turns green, motorists behind start honking violently. If you have switched off the ignition, the few moments it takes to restart the engine are pure hell; it seems they want to blow you away,” laments Dr. Beenish Parvez.

“And the worst part is that I have never seen anybody being fined for excessive honking in Delhi,” she quips, adding that motorists in Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi in her experience behave a lot better and are more sensible.

Although the Motor Vehicles Act has provisions of punishment/ penalty for excessive honking, penalties have been few. One suspects Delhi Police take action only when they receive complaints from VIPs. This is borne out by figures.

In 2018, a total of 13,75,044 challans (traffic tickets) were issued to motorists for violations, out of which only 3,120 challans (around 0.22%) were for excessive honking. Similarly, in 2019, a total of 4,374 motorists were fined for excessive honking. In 2020, because of the lockdown, only 257 were issued tickets for excessive honking. The figure in 2021, up to September 30, was just 86.

City cardiologists say that there is increased incidence of heart ailments seen among younger people in recent years. “Even those who don’t smoke are showing symptoms of heart disease. Though there is documented evidence of air pollution adversely affecting the heart, there is no such study I believe for noise pollution. But we cannot rule this out as one of the causes,” says Dr Shadab.

The doctor admits that he too finds commuting on Delhi roads stressful. “I no longer play music in my car because I now find any sound irritating.”

(This article was first published in National Herald on Sunday)