January 02, 2009	Friday	Muharram 04, 1430

NEW DELHI, Jan 1: Indian drivers were asked on Thursday to make a new year’s resolution they seem unlikely to keep: no more endless horn-blowing as they navigate New Delhi’s hectic traffic.

Jan 1 has been designated “No Honking Day” in the capital in the hope of offering some relief from the constant wail of vehicle horns that provide the soundtrack to urban life in India.

Organisers of “No Honking Day” are optimistic they can quieten the deafening beeping, but they do not expect instant results.

“It’s like a cancer in the system. It will take a lot of time,” said Ravi Kalra, president of the Earth Saviours Foundation, the group behind the event.

“In Delhi, 70 per cent of noise pollution is because of honking,” Kalra said as he campaigned with volunteers at a major intersection near the city centre.

“When people are stuck in traffic jams, they don’t know what to do, so they just blow their horns without any reason.” Since the campaign began in December, some 300,000 stickers and leaflets have been distributed.

They carry various slogans, including one in which a dog says: “I never bark unnecessarily.”

Drivers honking in restricted zones such as near hospitals, schools and traffic lights or in traffic jams face a fine of 100 rupees ($2)—AFP