Lend an ear to this no-honk drive, reduce noise pollution

Imagine strolling around the city roads and parks as you hear the lovely sounds of birds chirping. Now, cut to reality: The same places are filled with constant honking from vehicles, adding to the noise and stress. With an objective to urge people to stop the next time they are tempted to honk, volunteers of Beautiful Bengaluru (BB) have created a 49-second video to mark the World Deaf Day, observed on the last Sunday of September.

As a part of the campaign, Beautiful Bengaluru (BB), an active citizen initiative, has produced the video that aims to reduce noise pollution by cutting down on unnecessary honking. The video shows how the city’s laid-back charm has been replaced by constant honking. Odette Katrak, anchor of BB, said, “We hope the video makes honkers introspect. Honking adds to noise and stress, but does not subtract from traffic jams. Nine out of ten people honk unnecessarily on roads.”

Apart from this, the student wing of BB, represented by the volunteers of St Joseph’s College, is actively running awareness campaigns by distributing pamphlets, carrying placards with slogans such as ‘Honk Less, Reduce Stress’ and ‘No Noise Pollution’. Till date, they have covered places like Town Hall, Hudson Circle, Richmond Circle, Vellara Junction, Kumble Circle, Cash Pharmacy and Garuda mall.

Brother Philip Noronha, coordinator of the Outreach programme, St Joseph’s College, said more than 500 students had taken part in the campaign and hoped that it has an impact on society. On the occasion of ‘World Deaf Day,’ mimes and streetplays will be held to reinforce the ‘Horn Not Ok Please’ campaign by students at the Kempegowda International Airport at 11.30 am on Sunday. The event, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), will see the participation of Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R Hitendra and other dignitaries.