THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will consider imposing severe penalties to curb noise pollution in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. He was inaugurating the convention and workshop of the first Global Parliament on Safe Sound at National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) here on Friday.
He also reiterated the need for conducting an awareness campaign to reduce noise pollution. “Noise pollution is increasing at an alarming rate. Reports show that noise pollution largely affects the physical and mental condition of human beings. Children are the ones who largely get affected by the problem. High decibel sounds will cause shock and panic in them. Such sounds may cause epilepsy in children and may also cause depression. Noise pollution also affects pregnant women and foetus. It will also cause hearing loss and deafness. It is not possible to ban earphones. But vehicle horns can be prevented by law to go beyond allowed decibels. Hence both laws and awareness programmes are needed,” Pinarayi said.
The global parliament and the conference is organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in association with the National Initiative for Safe Sound (NISS), a social project of the IMA.