Silencing India

Can technology solve the nation's noise pollution?

I have been in India for the holidays. We arrived here after the quiet of Bali and, as usual, were assaulted by the crazy driving and incessant honking in Kolkata streets.

Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, with a population of 15 million is India's second-largest city after Mumbai. Indeed, noise pollution is rampant throughout major Indian metros and even in India's smaller urban centers.

I grew up in Kolkata on a street called Elgin Road that used to be quiet and elegant. Today, it is being transformed into a shopping district, and the traffic and noise levels have escalated to the point of madness. Traveling by car takes five times what it used to take. You have to start out at breakfast if you commit to a lunch meeting!

One day during my trip, we visited a small school that my family supports in the outskirts of the city. It took us an hour to get there. The chauffeur honked constantly throughout the journey, to the point that I had to say, "If you don't stop honking, I am going to leap out of this car."

Ken Wilson, president of the Christensen Fund, was with us for a day and had an interesting observation about the phenomenon of honking. He asked, in his usual thoughtful, eclectic way, "Have you ever observed how geese fly in a perfect 'v'? They always fly close to one another. And they always honk. That's how they maintain the momentum for the entire flock."

Indeed, on the streets of India, to say that people drive close is an understatement. And yes, they communicate with each other by honking. They have no choice.

Now imagine thousands of cars in a very small radius, all honking at once? Imagine the cacophony it creates!

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/12/30/kolkata-noise-pollution-tech-enter-cx_sm_0102kolkata.html