A Bizarre Love of Noise

We have had occasion to dwell on the bizarre fondness of some people for the most unbearable and cacophonous of noises that human beings can produce. This should be evident from the unbearable noise signals some people install on their cars to merely indicate that they are reversing a car. Add to this the horrendous sounds that railway engines produce whenever a train enters or leaves the city or the high-pitched and cacophonous sounds that some police vehicles and ambulance vans make. Guwahati is getting filled with the most unhealthy and unbearable sounds made by a large assortment of vehicles plying on the streets of the city. Many of these sounds far exceed the tolerance limit of 120 decibels. So far, there has been no visible action to do anything about the noise pollution that we have in the city. There has only been a lot of action to compound the menace. Our principal concern in seeking a substantial reduction to the noise pollution in the city is on account of the harmful effects of noise pollution on children and elderly people. Not only is noise pollution a definite health hazard for children, but an excess of noise has the effect of making children believe that there is nothing wrong about producing loud and ear-splitting sounds. When they grow up and are in responsible administrative posts, they too will have a rather casual attitude to the evil effects of noise pollution. And the children of the officers who are now responsible for the noise pollution that we have in the city will be at the forefront of the people who will attempt to rationalize the entire phenomenon of noise pollution and its harmful effects. We appeal to our city fathers and the custodians of the law to take some interest in the serious problem of noise pollution that the city has had to suffer from for quite a few years now and to tackle it very firmly before the evil effects of this noise pollution begin to be much more visible in children and senior citizens.