Now citizens must come forward, wake up authorities’

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-time-to-bring-down-the-din-cpcb-2328391

Indiatimes|The Times of India|The Economic Times
'Now citizens must come forward, wake up authorities’Jun 20, 2016, 11.42 PM ISTI ndia is among the noisiest countries in the world and Mumbai is the noisiest city in India. But it was after a court order in 2003 when a journalist published my phone number on the front page of The Times of India and I was deluged by calls pleading for help against deafening noise that I realized how it affected people. I once saw a hysterical mother pleading with a crowd to stop beating those drums because her infant started convulsing as soon as the drumbeat began. An old woman living alone once told me she could hear the firecrackers in a procession approaching and was trembling in anticipation of the sound. She wanted reassurance that she would make it through the next several hours.
Noise pollution caught the attention of the Supreme Court when a 13-year-old girl in Chennai was raped and her screams for help were not heard due to loudspeakers. When I started measuring noise in 2003, encouraged by my mentor Saad Ali, who provided me with a hand-held meter, there was no data at all on noise levels of common sources, including festivals, religious places, traffic or construction in Mumbai. Saad Ali, Dr Yeshwant Oke and Dr P N Rao had worked on the noise control policy, yet noise pollution was not commonly understood as the health hazard it is and people believed noise was an integral part of city living, impossible to control.
A few people, however, showed the courage to come forward and do more. Shivaji Park residents were among the first to seek help to make the area a silence zone. After a brave Ashok Rawat joined them, a PIL was filed to reclaim the peace in their neighbourhood. Dr Mahesh Bedekar, a doctor from Thane, was next and, in spite of threats from politicians and goons, made first the city of Thane and then the entire state of Maharashtra accountable to noise rules during festivals.
Various other citizens contributed too: from Javed Khan and residents of Maple Towers who battled against noise from construction of a building to Irfan Machiwala and Bhagyashree Kelkar who controlled noise from Mahim Fair and Ajay Marathe who took on a mosque and a church in Navi Mumbai.
Perhaps the most touching contributions were by three children, Sahil Parab, Harsh Mahadikar and Aniruddh Chaudhary, aged 11 to 12 years, from the BDD Chawl in Parel who measured noise on their father's phone, even hitching a ride on a truck to Andheri to cover as much area as they could. Sadly their 12-year-old leader showed significant hearing loss, probably noise induced, when Awaaz Foundation along with Vibha Shah of AURED tested their hearing.
I believe most people feel a need to give back to society and professional pro bono contributions are invaluable, particularly to an unfunded NGO like Awaaz Foundation. Our lawyer Ishwar Nankani offered pro bono support at a time when noise was a little known subject in 2002. Ishwar not only volunteered his own work and his entire office pro bono but continued to bear expenses through the years. Our PIL of 2003, filed with Dr Yeshwant Oke, Dr P N Rao and the Bombay Environmental Action Group restricted loudspeaker use in silence zones for the first time. Awaaz's PIL of 2007 brought noise from traffic, construction and urban planning into public consciousness for the first time and succeeded in stopping use of urban helipads atop buildings. Noise mapping was proposed and sound barriers made mandatory on all new flyovers.
Josy Paul was another who offered help when his fledgling advertising agency BBDO India was run out of a small rented office. As he gained in stature through his award-winning campaigns, he continued to support and most of his office has periodically worked to make the anti-noise message stronger for awareness and enforcement.
So where do we go from here? The Times of India has done great service to citizens' health with their present campaign 'Noise Annoys.' Citizens need to participate actively in it by downloading a free noise meter on their phone and making informed complaints to the Police and on the #GetWellSoonMumbai facebook page. I sincerely hope active participation will motivate police and government to control traffic, construction, loudspeaker and firecracker noise. I also hope this will help wake up the authorities to the need for integration of noise control measures in future urban planning through a noise mapping study which will be integrated into the new Development Control Plan of Mumbai.
(The writer is an activist whose NGO, Awaaz Foundation, has spearheaded the fight against noise pollution)
Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.
RELATED

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• Shrill vehicle horn? Now, police can penalize you
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NEXT STORYVehicles in India make a lot more sound than abroadNandini Sen Gupta| TNN | Jun 20, 2016, 11.32 PM IST
MUMBAI: Indian vehicles are probably much louder than automobiles elsewhere in the world. According to auto industry experts, India's noisecutoff for horns — at 93 decibel (dB), according to the Central Motor Vehicle Rule (CMVR) 119 — is in line with international standards, but the top end of the noise range — at 112dB — is higher. Also, a lot of vehicularnoise is caused by air horns and multi-toned horns, as TOI campaign in association with Awaaz Foundation has highlighted. The import or local production of these air horns is not controlled or monitored.

Auto experts say the 93-112dB horn noise level for vehicles in India — measured at a distance seven metres from the position of a horn and at a height of 0.5 to 1.5 metres — was on par with EU standards until recently. The "EU has recently revised this standard wherein the upper limit has been kept unaltered at 112dB but the lower limit has been revised to 87dB," said C V Raman, executive director, engineering, Maruti Suzuki. "This, despite the fact that ambient noise in European cities in much lower than in India." Raman said the problem of horn noise was aggravated by frequent and unnecessary use of horns on Indian roads.

Apart from honking, vehicular noise is measured in two categories. There is vehicle passby noise — measured at about 10 metre distance at 50kmph full throttle in second or third — which can come from engine, powertrain, exhaust system or tyre rolling. CMVR 120 offers a cutoff of this, which varies from 80dB for petrol two-wheelers to 91dB for passenger and commercial vehicles above 12,000kg weight (see table). Then there is stationary noise for which there is currently a proposal for Indian regulations with 3.9dB as the cutoff.

Part of the problem of vehicular noise is also the use of multi-tone horns, which are not permitted on normal motor vehicles. "After-market fitment of pressure/ multi-toned horns is a common phenomenon and there's is no enforcement to penalize the errant," said Raman. "As per the Motor Vehicle Rules, multi-toned horns are not permitted to be fitted but due to lack of enforcement, such horns are readily available in the market."

Indeed, a recent National Green Tribunal order over the Dilip Nevatia case resulted in the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) proposing a much lower noise cutoff for multi-tone horns and sirens than allowed. "The cutoff here was 10dB over vehicle engine noise but engine noise is not measured in India, only passby noise is," said a SIAM source. This not only created confusion over cutoff but also over permitted horn noise range. The trouble is 10dB over and above the passby cutoff (say 82 dB for cars) would be much lower than the 93-112 dB range for vehicle horns right now.

The matter is now under consideration of an expert committee set up by MPCB. Meanwhile, a draft notification for an Ambulance Code for sirens has been prepared by the ministry of road transport and highways where the range is 110-120 dB.




NEXT STORYTraffic cops who need to rein in noise polluters are themselves at highest risk of hearing loss: StudyNitasha Natu| TNN | Jun 20, 2016, 11.30 PM IST
C onstable Hemant Joshi cringes every time a car horn blares at Sion junction where he is posted to supervise trafficmovement. Joshi was among 17 traffic police personnel who underwent a preliminary test for hearing loss in October last year, conducted through Awaaz Foundation and AURED, which works with hearing-impaired children. He and 10 other cops showed signs of hearing loss in either one or both ears and were asked to see a doctor for detailed analysis.

It's ironic but traffic police who can play the most influencing role in keeping noise levels down, are also the worst sufferers of the problem. Constant exposure to honking takes a huge toll on them. "Some of the effects of exposure to loud sound are irritability and headache. But an affected person may not connect these symptoms to hearing loss and may not seek expert advice," says Dr Hetal Marfatia, ENT surgeon at KEM Hospital.

Joshi (38) says his hearing problem started when he worked in the ammunition section of the Mumbai police. "Constant sound of gunfire affected my hearing. It worsened as I joined the traffic branch. Every time a vehicle, fitted with a shrill horn, honks as it passes by, I feel distinctly uncomfortable," he says. "Shrill horns and reverse horns are illegal. But booking every offender is impossible as traffic movement cannot be halted."

Constable Shivaji Kamble (53) had also shown signs of hearing loss in the test conducted last year. Like Joshi, Kamble too hasn't seen a specialist yet. "Our job is very demanding and involves spending long hours on the road. We hit the bed as soon as we reach home. Where is the time to see a specialist?" asks Kamble, who has spent 32 years in Mumbai police, three of which were in the traffic department. Incidentally, Kamble chose to join traffic police despite undergoing a surgery for a ruptured eardrum less than a decade ago. "I understand that being surrounded by noisy vehicles is only increasing my problem but it was my desire to serve in the traffic department before I retire. I have two more years of service left," he says.

The traffic department conducts medical workshops from time to time for its personnel. On May 31, Indian Medical Association held a lecture on noise pollution and its effects at the Jogeshwari traffic outpost. Cops say it would be welcome if a solution were thought of. Constable Joshi, for instance, was not even aware of the seriousness of his hearing problem until he took the test. "Better traffic management, where motorists do not honk, would be the best solution. Motorists follow rules abroad, so there's no reason to not follow it in India. Special ear plugs, like those designed for musicians, may work. These don't affect the quality of work but only muffle the sound," says Dr Marfatia.

A checkup camp conducted by Thane traffic police in association with Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Association of Medical Consultants in 2014 showed that 42% of 556 traffic constables suffered from varying degrees of hearing loss.





‘Now citizens must come forward, wake up authorities’Jun 20, 2016, 11.42 PM ISTI ndia is among the noisiest countries in the world and Mumbai is the noisiest city in India. But it was after a court order in 2003 when a journalist published my phone number on the front page of The Times of India and I was deluged by calls pleading for help against deafening noise that I realized how it affected people. I once saw a hysterical mother pleading with a crowd to stop beating those drums because her infant started convulsing as soon as the drumbeat began. An old woman living alone once told me she could hear the firecrackers in a procession approaching and was trembling in anticipation of the sound. She wanted reassurance that she would make it through the next several hours.
Noise pollution caught the attention of the Supreme Court when a 13-year-old girl in Chennai was raped and her screams for help were not heard due to loudspeakers. When I started measuring noise in 2003, encouraged by my mentor Saad Ali, who provided me with a hand-held meter, there was no data at all on noise levels of common sources, including festivals, religious places, traffic or construction in Mumbai. Saad Ali, Dr Yeshwant Oke and Dr P N Rao had worked on the noise control policy, yet noise pollution was not commonly understood as the health hazard it is and people believed noise was an integral part of city living, impossible to control.
A few people, however, showed the courage to come forward and do more. Shivaji Park residents were among the first to seek help to make the area a silence zone. After a brave Ashok Rawat joined them, a PIL was filed to reclaim the peace in their neighbourhood. Dr Mahesh Bedekar, a doctor from Thane, was next and, in spite of threats from politicians and goons, made first the city of Thane and then the entire state of Maharashtra accountable to noise rules during festivals.
Various other citizens contributed too: from Javed Khan and residents of Maple Towers who battled against noise from construction of a building to Irfan Machiwala and Bhagyashree Kelkar who controlled noise from Mahim Fair and Ajay Marathe who took on a mosque and a church in Navi Mumbai.
Perhaps the most touching contributions were by three children, Sahil Parab, Harsh Mahadikar and Aniruddh Chaudhary, aged 11 to 12 years, from the BDD Chawl in Parel who measured noise on their father's phone, even hitching a ride on a truck to Andheri to cover as much area as they could. Sadly their 12-year-old leader showed significant hearing loss, probably noise induced, when Awaaz Foundation along with Vibha Shah of AURED tested their hearing.
I believe most people feel a need to give back to society and professional pro bono contributions are invaluable, particularly to an unfunded NGO like Awaaz Foundation. Our lawyer Ishwar Nankani offered pro bono support at a time when noise was a little known subject in 2002. Ishwar not only volunteered his own work and his entire office pro bono but continued to bear expenses through the years. Our PIL of 2003, filed with Dr Yeshwant Oke, Dr P N Rao and the Bombay Environmental Action Group restricted loudspeaker use in silence zones for the first time. Awaaz's PIL of 2007 brought noise from traffic, construction and urban planning into public consciousness for the first time and succeeded in stopping use of urban helipads atop buildings. Noise mapping was proposed and sound barriers made mandatory on all new flyovers.
Josy Paul was another who offered help when his fledgling advertising agency BBDO India was run out of a small rented office. As he gained in stature through his award-winning campaigns, he continued to support and most of his office has periodically worked to make the anti-noise message stronger for awareness and enforcement.
So where do we go from here? The Times of India has done great service to citizens' health with their present campaign 'Noise Annoys.' Citizens need to participate actively in it by downloading a free noise meter on their phone and making informed complaints to the Police and on the #GetWellSoonMumbai facebook page. I sincerely hope active participation will motivate police and government to control traffic, construction, loudspeaker and firecracker noise. I also hope this will help wake up the authorities to the need for integration of noise control measures in future urban planning through a noise mapping study which will be integrated into the new Development Control Plan of Mumbai.
(The writer is an activist whose NGO, Awaaz Foundation, has spearheaded the fight against noise pollution)
Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.
RELATED

• Activist reports illegal sand mining in Raigad
• Noisy parties may invite police action
• Shrill vehicle horn? Now, police can penalize you
• Noise levels on the first day of the Mahim Fair lower as compared to ...

NEXT STORYVehicles in India make a lot more sound than abroadNandini Sen Gupta| TNN | Jun 20, 2016, 11.32 PM IST
MUMBAI: Indian vehicles are probably much louder than automobiles elsewhere in the world. According to auto industry experts, India's noisecutoff for horns — at 93 decibel (dB), according to the Central Motor Vehicle Rule (CMVR) 119 — is in line with international standards, but the top end of the noise range — at 112dB — is higher. Also, a lot of vehicularnoise is caused by air horns and multi-toned horns, as TOI campaign in association with Awaaz Foundation has highlighted. The import or local production of these air horns is not controlled or monitored.

Auto experts say the 93-112dB horn noise level for vehicles in India — measured at a distance seven metres from the position of a horn and at a height of 0.5 to 1.5 metres — was on par with EU standards until recently. The "EU has recently revised this standard wherein the upper limit has been kept unaltered at 112dB but the lower limit has been revised to 87dB," said C V Raman, executive director, engineering, Maruti Suzuki. "This, despite the fact that ambient noise in European cities in much lower than in India." Raman said the problem of horn noise was aggravated by frequent and unnecessary use of horns on Indian roads.

Apart from honking, vehicular noise is measured in two categories. There is vehicle passby noise — measured at about 10 metre distance at 50kmph full throttle in second or third — which can come from engine, powertrain, exhaust system or tyre rolling. CMVR 120 offers a cutoff of this, which varies from 80dB for petrol two-wheelers to 91dB for passenger and commercial vehicles above 12,000kg weight (see table). Then there is stationary noise for which there is currently a proposal for Indian regulations with 3.9dB as the cutoff.

Part of the problem of vehicular noise is also the use of multi-tone horns, which are not permitted on normal motor vehicles. "After-market fitment of pressure/ multi-toned horns is a common phenomenon and there's is no enforcement to penalize the errant," said Raman. "As per the Motor Vehicle Rules, multi-toned horns are not permitted to be fitted but due to lack of enforcement, such horns are readily available in the market."

Indeed, a recent National Green Tribunal order over the Dilip Nevatia case resulted in the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) proposing a much lower noise cutoff for multi-tone horns and sirens than allowed. "The cutoff here was 10dB over vehicle engine noise but engine noise is not measured in India, only passby noise is," said a SIAM source. This not only created confusion over cutoff but also over permitted horn noise range. The trouble is 10dB over and above the passby cutoff (say 82 dB for cars) would be much lower than the 93-112 dB range for vehicle horns right now.

The matter is now under consideration of an expert committee set up by MPCB. Meanwhile, a draft notification for an Ambulance Code for sirens has been prepared by the ministry of road transport and highways where the range is 110-120 dB.





NEXT STORYTraffic cops who need to rein in noise polluters are themselves at highest risk of hearing loss: StudyNitasha Natu| TNN | Jun 20, 2016, 11.30 PM IST
C onstable Hemant Joshi cringes every time a car horn blares at Sion junction where he is posted to supervise trafficmovement. Joshi was among 17 traffic police personnel who underwent a preliminary test for hearing loss in October last year, conducted through Awaaz Foundation and AURED, which works with hearing-impaired children. He and 10 other cops showed signs of hearing loss in either one or both ears and were asked to see a doctor for detailed analysis.

It's ironic but traffic police who can play the most influencing role in keeping noise levels down, are also the worst sufferers of the problem. Constant exposure to honking takes a huge toll on them. "Some of the effects of exposure to loud sound are irritability and headache. But an affected person may not connect these symptoms to hearing loss and may not seek expert advice," says Dr Hetal Marfatia, ENT surgeon at KEM Hospital.

Joshi (38) says his hearing problem started when he worked in the ammunition section of the Mumbai police. "Constant sound of gunfire affected my hearing. It worsened as I joined the traffic branch. Every time a vehicle, fitted with a shrill horn, honks as it passes by, I feel distinctly uncomfortable," he says. "Shrill horns and reverse horns are illegal. But booking every offender is impossible as traffic movement cannot be halted."

Constable Shivaji Kamble (53) had also shown signs of hearing loss in the test conducted last year. Like Joshi, Kamble too hasn't seen a specialist yet. "Our job is very demanding and involves spending long hours on the road. We hit the bed as soon as we reach home. Where is the time to see a specialist?" asks Kamble, who has spent 32 years in Mumbai police, three of which were in the traffic department. Incidentally, Kamble chose to join traffic police despite undergoing a surgery for a ruptured eardrum less than a decade ago. "I understand that being surrounded by noisy vehicles is only increasing my problem but it was my desire to serve in the traffic department before I retire. I have two more years of service left," he says.

The traffic department conducts medical workshops from time to time for its personnel. On May 31, Indian Medical Association held a lecture on noise pollution and its effects at the Jogeshwari traffic outpost. Cops say it would be welcome if a solution were thought of. Constable Joshi, for instance, was not even aware of the seriousness of his hearing problem until he took the test. "Better traffic management, where motorists do not honk, would be the best solution. Motorists follow rules abroad, so there's no reason to not follow it in India. Special ear plugs, like those designed for musicians, may work. These don't affect the quality of work but only muffle the sound," says Dr Marfatia.

A checkup camp conducted by Thane traffic police in association with Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Association of Medical Consultants in 2014 showed that 42% of 556 traffic constables suffered from varying degrees of hearing loss.