Mahim residents protest against honking outside Bandra mosque

Mumbai: The fourth instalment of a no-honking drive, started by residents groups and activists, took place outside Bandra’s Jama Masjid on Friday. The group chose Friday for the drive as the traffic movement is more on this stretch.
Residents groups from Mahim along with volunteers of Awaaz Foundation have held similar initiatives earlier at LJ Road, Sena Bhavan and JJ Hospital Junction.They were inspired by a series of stories in TOI about noise pollution.
“We used banners to put across our point and spoke to motorists about the campaign. We are hoping to achieve a sense of discipline among motorists such as in some Western countries, where honking for no reason is considered offensive,” said Irfan Machiwala of the Mahim residents group. “Motorists should understand how irritating and harmful unnecessary honking can be and should have some discipline regarding usage of horns, especially in silence zones like outside the Masjid,” he said, adding that the government can help by having regulations at the manufacturing level for horns.
Jayesh Patil, a traffic policeman who was also part of the campaign, said the initiative was a great idea. “Traffic policemen have eight-hour long shifts at signals and are exposed to continuous honking the entire time, which is extremely bad for their health,” Patil said.