Guest column: Proactive measures key to reducing noise
We also need more monitoring units to be placed at the junctions where commercial activities are on the rise
It cannot be denied that we are living in a city with no urban planning. Today, commercial activities near schools, colleges and hospitals have resulted in noise pollution even in the silent zone. If the BBMP regulates the number of vehicles entering the zone, it can curb pollution to a large extent in these areas. The police must be deployed in the silent zones to check unnecessary honking, which not only annoys the patients in Nimhans, where the noise pollution is high, but also ordinary commuters.
It is not surprising that the noise pollution is within permissible limits in industrial areas but has exceeded it in commercial areas as in the former, industrial activity take place inside the factory protecting the localities outside from noise.
I have found during my sessions as a guest in schools and colleges, that there is a lack of awareness about noise pollution at large. Presently, the KSPCB merely collects the data and publishes it on its site. We need to create awareness about noise pollution not only among the people, but also among those working on the board.
We also need more monitoring units to be placed at the junctions where commercial activities are on the rise. The authorities need to be careful while issuing licenses for such activities and the automobile industry should be roped in to curb the noise pollution in the burgeoning city. Two-wheelers,. which have the horns of trucks, should be fined and the vehicles confiscated. I am all for sustainable development.