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Time to check noise pollution

We are noise-happy people” (Saturday Extra, Oct 17) makes for good reading. It is very true that we in India are very fond of making much noise.

We find pleasure in disturbing others by honking horns, blowing whistles, holding jagratas and taking out noisy processions.

We, a team of 20 senior citizens of Mohali, visited Bangkok, Pataya, and other places in Thailand, on a goodwill tour. We were pleasantly surprised to know that nobody, including the drivers of the heavy vehicles, blow horns. Nobody jumps the queue. There is seldom a quarrel or an accident.

The Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, Tajender Khanna, was justified when he said that we found pleasure in violating the traffic rules, jumping red lights etc.

It is high time that the police and transport departments used strict measures to check the noise pollution by horns.

S. Chaudhary, Secy, Mohali Senior,
Citizens’ Assn, Mohali

How best to decongest cities MOHAN DHARIA’s article, “Arresting urban decay” (Perspective, Nov 22) is timely. All our cities, big or small, are in a state of perpetual decay because of their haphazard growth and lack of basic facilities — sewerage, drainage, water supply, sanitation and traffic management. Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh vouched this fact when he said, “If there are international awards for filth, Indian cities will bag the top prizes.” To provide these five basic facilities, the municipal administration requires massive investment which it does not have. The state governments milk the cities through tax collection but do not spend even 10 per cent of the accruals on infrastructure development. The governments also encourage the growth of unapproved colonies by allowing sale deeds of lands simultaneously. Mr Dharia has rightly emphasised that the limiting size for a city for its convenient development should be to accommodate a population of one million only. Presently there are around 50 cities with population crossing the one-million mark. With the present trend of rural migration into urban areas, the number may cross the 300-mark by 2031. If the government is serious to save the cities from further decay, it must take the following measures with a sense of urgency. Prevent further growth of existing cities by strict enforcement of regulatory laws. Set up new well planned cities to act as sub-capitals of the bigger states. Declare bigger villages (population more than 7,000) as towns and ensure their systematic growth. Set up satellite towns to the state capital cities and transfer all the government offices/ institutions to decongest the mega cities. Improve education and sanitation facilities in villages to reduce migration to the urban areas. And arrange adequate funds to the municipal governments to provide the five aforesaid basic facilities in the existing towns. Clearly, there is no shortcut to save cities from urban decay. RAM NIWAS MALIK, Engineer-in-Chief (retd) , Gurgaon