Police Commissioner inaugurates 'no honking awareness campaign' in city
Kolkata: Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma inaugurated 'no honking awareness campaign' in the city on Tuesday.
"As you can hear, this (honking) is a menace we are talking about. People moving on the road behind us unnecessarily honk when traffic is moving slowly. But still, they will honk. There are many reasons behind that. Maybe some people are rude and some are in a hurry. But the main thing is that most of them are not aware of the amount of pollution they are creating by honking. We have come forth together with the school. It is an awareness campaign hoping for improvement. The prosecution is a side we are taking care of. This awareness part is playing a major role," said Sharma.
Students of La Martiniere For Boys and La Martiniere For Girls put up 'No honking stickers' on vehicles running on the road. "Students from 35 schools at 35 different places are participating in the campaign," said Praveen Sethia, who was moderating the programme.
As part of the campaign, Sharma also flagged off a police bike rally from Minto Park. "The bike rally took the route from Sarat Bose Road to Golpark, Gariahat, Asutosh Chowdhury Road, Syed Amir Ali Avenue, Park Circus Seven Point Crossing, Park Street South, Plassey Gate Road and PAC tent," Praveen pointed out.
According to India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), traffic sound averages 100db from the street. This could translate to the sound of a leaf blower from around three feet away.
It might be mentioned that the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has decided to include noise management in its district-level Environmental Management Plan and come up with noise monitoring stations with display boards in all the major towns in the state.
Kolkata is the only city in the country where there are noise monitoring facilities at ten places.
Senior officials of WBPCB will hold a meeting with all district magistrates to share the district-level management plan for curbing pollution.
