Mumbai launches no-honking drive

Mumbai: A "No Honking Movement" was launched yesterday as over 100 taxi drivers, 22 of them women, took an oath not to honk unless it was absolutely necessary while driving in Mumbai.

In a city where motorists honk incessantly, even at traffic signals when vehicles do not move quickly enough after the lights turn green, "we are promoting this movement to preserve the environment and make our city less noisy", said Sanjay Barve, Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic.

Smartly dressed women drivers of an exclusive ladies taxi service, For She, and male drivers of Gold Cabs stood in attention at the police grounds of the Traffic Police headquarters in Worli and read out the oath "that as a responsible driver, road user and citizen of this great city, I take an oath that I shall not honk or use the horn unless where absolutely necessary".

Arun Sabnis, Managing Trustee of Fulora Foundation that runs the Gold Cab service, advised his drivers to abide by police's suggestion not to honk. "We must get this habit of honking out of our system," he told them. Revathi Roy, the managing director of For She, also said it was time "to make Mumbai a peaceful and quiet city".

Recently, the Traffic Police has been dealing with the various offences committed by motorists - especially drunken and rash driving and has been going hammer and tongs at those who blare horns.

"So far, we have registered over 37,000 cases for honking unnecessarily," says Barve.

He also says that "this is just the first of the phases and we intend to cover the entire city in one and a half months through organised groups".

The police also plan to conduct noise level surveys in different parts of the city using audio meters. Next in line will be the fleet of over 3,000 BEST buses that honk their way through streets crowded with vehicles and pedestrians. Harish Baijal, the Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Police, said the second phase would also include an oath-taking ceremony for 300 police drivers.

Everyone agrees that the biggest problem on Mumbai's roads are the two-wheelers - motorbikes and scooters - that zigzag through gaps between vehicles, honking noisily.

Mamta Srivastav, a driver with For She, admits that in the initial stages, she too felt honking was the best way to move ahead quickly. "Nowadays, I control myself from honking though there are times I have no option but to honk."