Traffic halts, silence prevails: Basaveshwara Circle’s honk-free moment

Participants of a campaign against honking brought traffic at the busy Basaveshwara Circle at the heart of the city to a standstill this week.

Since Monday, members of the civic action group Citizens for Citizens (C4C) have been gathering at the junction between 10 am and 11 am every day to display placards about the hazards of honking and noise pollution.

The campaign — the group’s 12th and organised jointly with students of RC College and the High Grounds traffic police — involved its members gathering at the center of the circle for a 15-second pause during the hour.

“Traffic stopped completely and people were stunned to silence. Not a single person honked. Many people even showed their support for the campaign by raising a thumbs-up,” said Rajkumar Dugar, founder and convenor of C4C.

The group has been running a sustained campaign against needless honking and noise pollution since September 2021.

Its efforts have led to the installation of ‘no-honking’ boards at elevated metro stations and ‘silence zone’ boards inside Cubbon Park.

In its previous campaigns, the group found 70% of the honking to be habitual and without reason. They also noticed a drop of 10 decibels every time they held the campaign. The group wants the traffic police and the transport department to strictly implement laws banning loud, repetitive, and multi-toned horns.

They are also demanding that the BBMP and the traffic police follow the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) directions to declare major junctions as no-honking zones and display signages accordingly.