Someone needs to put the brakes on city car racing

The Nepean Sea Road Citizens Forum, too, emailed traffic authorities on December 1. File pic/Ashish Raje

A Worli resident and a Nepean Sea Road citizens body have written to traffic authorities about the noise pollution caused by racing cars on the Coastal Road. They claimed in their respective emails that the sound made by the vehicles was atypical.

These are cars racing down the stretch and have some modified features that amplify the sound. The result is a huge disturbance late at night and early in the morning for residents around that coastal stretch. Both communications also pointed to the Breach Candy Hospital in the vicinity.

This paper has highlighted a few instances, not this one though, where there had been complaints of racing by cars and sometimes bikes on empty stretches of road, especially when traffic is relatively thinner late at night. Sometimes these roads were off the main road, leading on to a residential area. It was the locals that first flagged the deafening noise, the reports highlighted the complaints and the authorities checked and acted on it. This is an ongoing problem though, where speed devils tend to race superbikes and cars, many a time with modification to add to the so-called thrill and adrenalin rush, as they race. The result is disturbed nights for locals and zooming noise pollution levels.

While we talk about air pollution, and the smog is Delhi is rightfully a huge concern, with Mumbai air quality, too, a significant worry, not enough has been spoken about noise pollution.

This pollution, too, has an adverse impact on overall health. While it may not be as closely monitored as air pollution, this one needs attention and correction when warranted.

Authorities now need to set up some patrol to check if these modified race cars are speeding down the Coastal Road stretch. This is an alert, it is now up to the authorities to investigate and if found true, immediate and remedial action is the way ahead.