Kochi: Stretch on MG Road becomes Kerala's first 'no-horn area' from today

KOCHI: The city's main arterial road MG Road can soon blow its own horn; it will get the distinction of becoming the first horn-free zone of Kerala on Thursday.

The area from Seemati to Maharaja's College Metro Station will be declared a 'no horn area'. The initiative is being carried out with the support of the IMA, National Initiative for Safe Sound (NISS), Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), Motor Vehicles Department, the Kochi City police and Kochi Metro.

KMRL managing director A P M Muhammad Haneesh will officially declare the stretch a no horn area at a function at the Madhava Pharmacy Junction metro parking on Thursday. Kochi city DCP R Karuppasamy will preside over the ceremony. Ernakulam RTO Reji P Varghese will deliver the keynote address.

The study conducted among the traffic police officers of Kochi showed that 75 per cent of them have the initial symptoms of hearing loss due to sound pollution. Kochi City traffic assistant commissioner M A Nazeer, IMA Kochi branch, SCMS Group of Institutions, Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly, and AOI led the check-up. Nazeer said the study result is a clear indication of the necessity of reducing the sound intensity of Kochi city to 65 decibels, which is the maximum allowed sound limit.