The mile-long traffic snarls. Office-goers angrily blowing their horns (and their tops), impatiently spewing abuse and exhaust smoke. This is an all too familiar daily routine for every working class hero in our metros as they commute to and from work. In Bengaluru, for instance, it sometimes takes over an hour to travel three kilometers during the ironically named ‘rush hours’. And in Delhi, there have been cases of people shooting commuters in what is described as “road rage”. While in Mumbai, even CEOs take the local train because driving would take three times the time. Every metro in the world probably has similar tales. But what distinguishes traffic intersections in our major cities is another thing: Noise.
Not just from car horns and commuters, but also from the continuous construction as planners desperately build flyovers, bridges and metro tunnels to cope with the rush. This noise, according to a recent study, can be deadly. Jointly conducted by Sweden’s Road Safety and Engineering Institute and Delhi-based NGO CitizenforSafety, the study shows roads with loud ambient noises are more prone to accidents. For example, noise levels in New Delhi’s Mathura Road reach almost twice the safe levels of 55 dB.
Apart from hearing loss, prolonged exposure to such levels of noise makes our muscles clench and breathing becomes faster than normal. “Apart from good driving and strict enforcement of traffic rules, driving ambience plays a major role in controlling accidents,” says the study’s chief researcher. This seems like a tall order. While enforcement of traffic rules is mediocre at best, good driving is probably dangerous given the impatience on our roads. As for ambience, traffic signals with ‘relax’ written on the red light in New Delhi probably provokes an opposite reaction, while Rabindrasangeet at Kolkata’s intersections only adds to the din. Until better ideas come along, we’ll just have to live with the noise.