Noisy trains to alert trespassers unfair to residents

Trains pass from behind the Gaiety-Galaxy cinemas

This paper carried a report on how persistent train honking has made life hell for Bandra-Khar residents, along the Gaiety-Galaxy cinema stretch.

Trains thundering on the tracks behind the iconic movie theatres persistently create noise.

While earlier these were short, staccato honks, now, they are prolonged auditory assaults as if the driver is simply leaning on the horn.

Residents have claimed that they are used to noise from the train, having lived there for years. This incessant honking though has amplified during the lockdown and is taking a toll on the mental well-being of locals.

There are so many studies that show the adverse mental effects of noise pollution. The solution, said locals who have approached the Western Railway's General Manager (GM), is to cut the train's speed slightly, blowing of the horn by drivers in spurts and tackling the problem of trespassers on the tracks.

This is imperative as we have seen that the fence along the tracks has been broken in places so it can be easily breached by people to cross over. The crossing where bikes can go over to the other side also needs to be manned, otherwise you have bikers getting under the barrier to cross.

It is grossly unfair that genuine, law-abiding people have to be subject to this ear-splitting noise as law breakers hare across the tracks. One is not saying that human life is not precious.

Each life is valuable and honking, of course, is one way to alert people that a train is coming. Yet, one cannot comprehend the mindset of people who continue running across, even with so much written and so many statistics citing the number of those killed while crossing the tracks.