Rising noise pollution in the city due to heavy traffic and excessive use of pressure horns by motorists has become a source of annoyance for the citizens.
The citizens have urged the law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies and the city district government to take solid steps in this regard.
Tahir, a motorist said, “People are becoming increasingly impatient. As soon as the traffic signal turns green everybody starts honking simultaneously which is increasing noise pollution on the roads.”
Although, various drives were launched in the past by City traffic police (CTP) to remove pressure horns from motorcycles and other vehicles but little success has been achieved so far.
Another motorist Mushtaq said that loud pressure horns have become a routine on the roads. “The problem can only be eliminated through combined efforts of all stakeholders. City District Government should ban manufacturing, selling and installation of pressure horns. Heavy vehicles with pressure horns should also be prohibited from entering the city,” he added.
City Police Officer (CTO), Rawalpindi said that CTP have been issuing challan slips to motorists for using pressure or multi-tone horns. The CTO said that the usage of pressure horns has increased and is mostly popular among bikers, whereas earlier it was mostly used by truck drivers.
“It seems that nowadays everybody is contributing towards noise pollution,” he added.
He informed that thousands of pressure horns were removed from different vehicles during special drives launched in the past and challans are being issued against violators. He urged the drivers to follow traffic rules to make the roads and the environment more user-friendly.
“Efforts are being made to instill better road sense among motorists and an awareness campaign in this regard is also underway,” he said.
