RTO officials will now request you not to honk needlessly at signals

Next time if you are driving a vehicle, stop at a traffic signal and begin to honk, you could find an official from Regional Transport Office (RTO) approach you with folded hands and request you not to do so

Next time if you are driving a vehicle, stop at a traffic signal and begin to honk, you could find an official from Regional Transport Office (RTO) approach you with folded hands and request you not to do so. These officials from the RTO will greet motorists with folded hands and say, "we are from Transport Department of Maharashtra. We request you not to honk. Our city is too noisy. Lets make it peaceful".

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The officials from the RTO have also been tasked with handing over a pamphlet with the message "Noise is Pollution & Pollution is a crime of 21st Century. Stop Honking. Peaceful Mumbai. Please do not litter. Clean India".

"The anti-honking drive will be a peaceful one with no fines being imposed, but with an aim to appeal to the good conscious of the motorists," an official said. The drive is being carried out in Mumbai and suburban Mumbai between December 5 to December 18. During this drive officials from the RTO with their flying squad teams will be stationed at the traffic signals.

"These officials shall only interact with the motorists who are at the traffic signal when the signal has turned red, hand over the pamphlet and urge them not to honk. The message on the pamphlet will be in Marathi, Hindi and English," the official said.

Meanwhile, an Environment Department notification issued on July 31, 2014, has laid down standards for horns, sirens and multi toned horns. This followed the National Green Tribunal, Western Zone Bench, Pune issuing directions to notify the standards in its order of 2013.

The government notification states that sirens and multi tone horns shall be continued to be banned except for police vans, ambulance and fire Brigade only in case of emergency situations. The use of sirens and multi tone horns shall continued to remain banned in silence zone and during night time in residential areas.

The noise level of horns including sirens, multi toned horns should not exceed 10 dB(A), louder than the noise level of the vehicle engine sound for each category of vehicles. The position of the horn should be under the bonnet of the vehicle, the notification states.

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