Honk, honk, bang, bang! Bengaluru turns deaf ear

As Diwali looms and citizens brace themselves for the annual auditory onslaught, it might be time to remember the city we all know and love. Waking up to birdsong and the chittering of squirrels on Sunday mornings, for instance. And all it takes is a simple no-honking rule! In March this year the noise pollution recorded in residential areas of the city had increased by an alarming 16.4% during the day and by 38.95% at night, report Aknisree Karthik and Aksheev Thakur.

That Bengaluru has changed over the years is no secret. With its tree cover depleting, and its roads choc a bloc with traffic, the city bears no resemble to what it was even a few years ago. With noise pollution growing on its roads, it's no longer a paradise for anyone, let alone the pensioners, who once flocked to it for some peace and quiet.

A techie, Shruthi M (name changed), employed with a leading MNC in Whitefield,  learnt the hard way what spending three to four hours on the road every day could cost her. Like most young people today she believes in regular exercise and yoga,  but some time ago began to feel physically sick in a way she could not explain.  Perplexed and worried, she consulted a doctor only to find that it was the noise pollution in the city that was getting her down, both physically and mentally.     

Read | Guest column: This festival season, take care of your ears

"Despite my busy schedule I always found time to exercise and do yoga. But then I began to find it difficult to sleep and lay awake for hours in bed. This affected my productivity and I became  depressed as  my overall health too started to collapse. Finally, I consulted an expert to find out what could be wrong and discovered that noise pollution was taking a toll on my health. I have now stopped using my bike and have shifted to cabs,” the girl recounts.

Shruthi is not alone in her plight as most commuters have a hard time on the roads today , assaulted as they are by the honking of vehicles and the roar of motorbikes and cars any and every time of the day. While people grumble and complain only to have the authorities turn a deaf ear, it’s not something that can be brushed aside as of little importance anymore.

Going by the state transport department there are  70.28 lakh of vehicles today on the city’s narrow roads that were clearly not meant to handle this volume of traffic.    

But it's not only vehicles that are to be blamed for the increasing noise pollution. Rampant commercialisation of residential areas, use of  loudspeakers during festivals and processions, beating of drums,  loud music in  bars and pubs and the never ending construction work are all contributing to it.  

For Ms Jagadeshwari, who lives in Chaluwadipalya, the use of loudspeakers  in her area is proving  a huge nuisance. "In the absence of any monitoring ,people who organise functions use high decibel speakers, causing a lot of disturbance to everyone,” she complains.

So bad are things that the noise in West of Chord Road, Whitefield and Peenya is much above the permissible limit of 55 to 75 decibels, going by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board .

Besides people commuting to work, others who are badly affected by the noise are autorickshaw drivers, cabbies, and even traffic cops, who are forced to spend long hours on the roads.

Says a traffic policeman, who mans the busy J C Road every day, "The  traffic department  provides us  with  masks, gloves, raincoats, jackets and so on. But what we really need are ear plugs to protect us from the noise pollution. We could wear them at least during the peak hours in the morning and evening."

Blame construction: KSPCB
Ask chairman of the Karntaka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Laxman about the increasing noise pollution in the city and he blames  it mainly on construction activity in residential areas. “We are serving notice on liquor outlets that violate the rules of the pollution control board on noise pollution,” he adds.

But activists like N R Suresh, convenor of  United Bengaluru, are unhappy with the board, saying Bengalureans don’t even know if the agency exists or not.  As for increased commercialisation of residential areas, he says caustically, " The masterplan on which the city spends crores is nothing but a land use plan. The city administration has no respect for zoning.”

“Certainly, the people of Indiranagar are facing a lot of problems due to increased commercialisation of its residential areas. The noise from pubs and bars is very disturbing,” agrees Mr Mahesh Kashyap, a consultant with the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD) .

While in residential areas the permissible noise limit is 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night, in March this year the noise pollution recorded in residential areas of the city had increased by 16.4 per cent during the day and  by 38.95 at night going by the state pollution control board’s data.

Not surprisingly, Bengaluru was ranked among seven cities exceeding the permissible noise limits in the country by the  Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in April.