ORDER
S.B. Sinha, CJ
1. This writ petition was taken up
as a Public Interest Litigation on the basis
of a letter dated 16-9-2000 written by a
practising advocate in Vijayawada
City addressed to the Honourable
Chief Justice of this Court regarding
the noise pollution created in the City
of Vijayawada by reason of the use of
Air Horns at their pitch by A.P. State
Road Transport Corporation buses,
lorries etc.
2. The fact that there exists
noise pollution in the City of Vijayawada is
not in dispute. An affidavit, affirmed by
Sri. B. Sreenivas, Sub-Inspector of Police
on behalf
of respondents 1, 4 and 10 was filed
contending that organised special camps were
held to curb noise pollution with the
assistance of A.P. Pollution Control Board
and in the month of January, 2001, 1241
cases have been booked. All kinds of
Gas Horns/pneumatic horns and multi-tone
horns fitted to motor vehicles were banned
by the Commissioner of Police on 8-1-
2001. It was further stated directions
have also been issued to remove the gas
horns fitted to all school buses and 3427
noise pollution cases have been booked
within a period of six months against
the drivers of vehicles who violated the
traffic rules.
3. However, the A.P. Pollution
Control Board in their status report dated
26-2-2001 admits of heavy noise
pollution in Vijayawada city caused on
account of using of air horns by APSRTC
Buses, private tourist buses, lorries. It was
pointed out that at junction points,
turning of roads, the drivers blow horns
at highest pitch as a result whereof, the
traffic rules are violated, which result in
causing accidents and noise problems. It
was stated that noise values observed in
Vijayawada city at all the three places viz.,
Industrial, Commercial and residential
areas have exceeded the normal values of
noise levels fixed by the Central Pollution
Control Board. The values of noise levels
recorded at the above three places from
29-1-2001 to 10th February, 2001 are
stated to be as under:
Place
Noise
Noise Levels
Lmax
Lmin
LAvg
Autonagar (Industrial area)
11 to 11.30 a.m.
98 to 104
61 to 67
86 to 89
Benz Circle Road
Junction point (Commercial area)
10 to 10.30 a.m.
102 to 112
75 to 80
84 to 97
Surya Rao pet (Residential Area)
9 to 9.30 a.m.
71 to 78
50.8 to 52.0
61.1 to 64.0
4. A detailed report has also
been annexed to the status report filed
by the Pollution Control Board.
5. It is not in dispute that the
Central Government in exercise of its
powers conferred by clause (ii) of sub-
section (2) of Section 3, sub-section (1)
and clause (b) of sub-section (2) of
Section 6 and Section 25 of the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29
of 1986) read with Rule 5 of the
Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986
made rules for regulation and control of
noise producing and generating sources
known as the noise Pollution (Regulation
and Control) Rules, 2000 (for short ‘the
said Rules’). Rule 3 provides for
ambient air quality standards in respect
of noise for different areas/zones which
reads thus:
(1) The ambient
air quality standards in respect
of noise for different areas/zones
shall be such as specified in the
Schedule annexed to these
rules.
(2) The State Government may
categorise the areas into industrial,
commercial, residential or silence
areas/zones for the purpose of
implementation of noise standards
for different areas.
(3) The State Government shall
take measures for abatement of
noise including noise emanating
from vehicular movements and
ensure that the existing noise levels
do not exceed the ambient air
quality standards specified under
these rules.
(4) All Development authorities,
local bodies and other concerned
authorities while planning
developmental activity or carrying
out functions relating to town and
country planning shall take into
consideration all aspects of noise
pollution as a parameter of quality
of life to avoid noise menace and to
achieve the objective of
maintaining the ambient air quality
standards in respect of noise.
(5) An area comprising not less
than 100 metres around hospitals,
educational institutions and
Courts may be declared as silence
area/zone for the purpose of these
rules.
6. Rule 4 provides for the
responsibility as to enforcement of
noise pollution control measures which
is in the following terms:
(1) The noise levels is
any area/zone shall not exceed the
ambient air quality standards in
respect of noise as specified in the
Schedule.
(2) The authority shall be
responsible for the enforcement of
noise pollution control measures
and the due compliance of the
ambient air quality standards in
respect of noise.
7. Rule 6 lays down as regards
the consequences of violation in silence
zone/ area which reads as follows:
Whoever, in any place covered
under the silence zone/area commits
any of the following offence, he shall
be liable for penalty under the provisions
of the Act:
(i) whoever, plays
any music or uses any sound
amplifiers;
(ii) whoever, beats a drum or
tom-tom blows a horn either
musical or pressure or trumpet or
beats or sounds any instrument; or
(iii) whoever, exhibits any
mimetic, musical or other
performances of a
nature to attract
crowds.
8. Rule 7 provides for filing of
complaints to the authority. Rule 8
empowers the authority to prohibit
continuance of music sound or noise. In
the schedule
appended to the said Rules ambient Air
Quality Standards in respect of noise
has been laid down which is in the
following terms:
area Code
Catlegory of
Area/Zone
Limits
in dB(A)Leg
Day time
Night time
(A) Industrie area
Wustrial area
75
70
(B) Commercial area
Commercial area
65
55
(C) Residential area
Residential area
55
45
(D) Silence Zone
Silence Zone
50
40
Note :–1. Day
time shall mean from 6.00 a.m. to
10.00 p.m.
2. Night time shall mean from
10.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.
3. Silence zone is defined as an
area comprising not less than 100
metres around hospitals,
educational institutions and
Courts. The silence zones are
zones which are declared as such
by the competent authority.
4. Mixed categories of areas
may be declared as one of the
four above mentioned categories
by the competent
authority.
dB(A) Leq, denotes the time
weighted average of the level of sound
in decibel on scale A which is
relatable to human hearing.
A “decibel” is a unit in which
noise is measured.
“A”, in dB(A) Leq, denotes the
frequency weighting in the
measurement of noise and
corresponds to frequency response
characteristics of the human ear.
Leq: It is an energy mean of the
noise level over a specified period.
9. The Governor of Andhra
Pradesh in exercise of the powers
conferred by Sections 28, 38, 95, 96,
107, 111, 138 and 176 of the Motor
Vehicles Act, 1988 (Central Act 59 of
1988) made Rules known as Andhra
Pradesh Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. Rule
427 of the said Rules which deals with
sound signals and restrictions on the
whereof reads thus:
Sound signals –
Restrictions on use of:–No driver of a
motor vehicle shall sound the horn or
other device for giving audible
warning, with which the motor
vehicle is equipped, or shall cause
or allow any other person to do so, to
an extent beyond that which is
reasonable necessary to ensure
safety.
10. Rule 428 of A.P. Motor
Vehicles Rules, 1989 empowers the
authority to issue notification to prohibit
sound signals in the following terms:
The Commissioner of
Police in the Cities of Hyderabad and
Secunderabad and elsewhere the
Collector may, by notification in the
Official Gazette and by the erection
in suitable places of appropriate
traffic signs prescribed under the
Act, prohibit the use of any horn,
gong or other device on a motor
vehicle for giving suitable warning
within such locality and during such
hours as may be specified in the
notification :
Provided that when the
Commissioner of Police or the
Collector as the case may be, prohibits
the use of any horn, gong or other
device for giving audible warning during
certain specified hours, he shall cause
a suitable notice in English and in the
script of the city or district, setting
forth the hours within which such use
is so prohibited to be affixed below
the traffic sign.
11. Rule 119 of the V Central
Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 reads
thus:
Horns: (A) Every
motor vehicle shall befitted with an
electric horn or other device
(conforming to the specifications of the
Bureau of Indian Standards) for use
by the driver of the vehicle and
capable of giving audience and sufficient
wanting of the approach or position of
the vehicle.
(B) No motor vehicle shall
befitted with any multi-toned horn
giving a succession of different notes
or with any other sound producing
device giving an unduly harsh, shrill,
loud or alarming noise.
(C) Nothing contained in sub-
rule (2) shall prevent the use in
vehicles used as ambulance or for fire
fighting of salvage purposes or a
vehicle used by police officers or
officers of Motor Vehicles
Department in the course of their duties,
of such sound signals as may be approved
by the registering authority in whose
jurisdiction such vehicles are
kept.
12. There exists difference
between sound as part of nature and sound
generated by electrical and electronic
devices being the contribution of
modern science. Although from the
inception of the civilisaiton sound is
part of the nature, but unwanted noise
created from the sources like
loudspeakers, air horns fitted to motor
vehicles, playing of music records etc.,
is not desirable.
13. The effect of noise pollution
is a matter of great concern to the
mankind. Noise not only causes annoyance
to mankind outside his home but also
invades his home. Noise pollution has been
brought within the purview of Air
(Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1981 as amended by Act No.47 of
1987 which came into force with effect
from 1-4-1988. It is now established that
noise is a form of environmental
degradation and it has serious implication
on health which can change man’s
psychological state by speeding up pulse
and respiratory rates. It also impair hearing
either permanently or temporarily. Millions
of industrial workers are threatened with
hearing damage. Medical evidence shows
that it can cause heart attacks in individual
with existing cardiac injury and that
continued exposure to loud noise is likely
to cause chronic effects such as hyper-
tension or ulcer. Noise also causes both
injury and nuisance and alarming noise
causes disturbance and distraction to the
students who are not able to concentrate
fully due to irritation caused by such devices.
It is also causing adverse effect on infants,
sick and elderly persons.
14. W.S. Gilbert in ‘The Grand
Duke’ stated:
When you have
got a beehive in your head,
And a sewing machine in each
ear,
And you feel like you have eaten
your bed,
And you have got a bad headache
down here.
15. Noise is also created by
traffic and it also causes disturbed sleep.
The citizens have right to sleep peacefully
and also a right to a decent environment
as highlighted by the Supreme Court in
various decisions which are all well
known in the field of pollution. In view of
the enormous increase in number of motor
vehicles of all types every year, the
menace of noise pollution is posing
problems, to the mankind. The effect of bad
right sleep as highlighted by an eminent
scientist in the field Fiona Goolee in his
article in British medical journal, in
which it was stated that noise can have
positive effects on health. The effect of
bad night sleep includes mood change,
reduce cardiovascular performance and
poor performance at intellectual and
mechanical tasks and it was further
observed in a recent review of research
into noise and sleep recommends that
sound at night in sleeping quarters should
not exceed 45 DB (A). It was held that
noise also adversely affects behaviour,
increasing anxiety and reducing the
incidence of helpful behaviour. Levels of
aggression are increased by loud noise,
an effect which may persist outside the
noisy environment. Steel workers have
more domestic disputes if they work in
noisy areas. Noise is unacceptable not
only to human beings but also to animals.
There cannot be any doubt that
tremendous sound beyond permissible
limits is anti-thesis of civilised order. The
effect of noise even on the domesticated
animals like pet dogs in a common
man’s knowledge.
16. So far as noise pollution
caused by the use of air horns is
concerned, as indicated hereinbefore,
the same is fully covered by the A.P.
Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 and the
Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
17. In Rabin Mukerjee v. State of
West Bengal, , a
learned Judge of the Calcutta High
Court while considering Rule 114(d) of
Bengal Motor Vehicles Rules, 1940
which is in pari materia with Rule 119
of Central Motor Vehicles Rules, it was
held that apart from the fact that use of
electric or air horn is not permissible in
public vehicle, the air and electric horn
produces or causes unduly rash, shrills,
loud and alarming noise. It was also
found that research conducted jointly
by Basu Bignan Mandir and Presidency
College, Calcutta showed that the
atmosphere and the environment in the
city of Calcutta and its suburbans was
very much polluted from discriminating
noise emitted from different quarters. It
was held:
It is also desirable in
the larger public interest that the
respondents and the State
Government and the authorities
should take suitable measures to
implement the provision of Rule
114(d) of the Motor Vehicles Rules,
1940 and no certificate of fitness
should be granted under Section 38
of the said Act, in case of non-
compliance of the provisions of Rule
114(d) of the said Rules so that this
type of noise pollution is eradicated at
any early date from the State of West
Bengal.
18. Yet again in Nayan Bchari
Dass v. State of Orissa (Original
Jurisdiction Case No. 3481 of 1992),
a Division Bench of the Orissa High
Court dealing with Section 119 of the
Central Motor Vehicles Rules held:
It cannot be denied that
constant use of such devices
producing unduly harsh, shrill, loud or
alarming noise is bound to cause
disturbance and distraction to the
students who are notable to concentrate
fully due to irritation caused by such
devices. It is also causing adverse effect
on infants, sick and elderly persons.
Audio generally causing inconvenience
as persons like the petitioner are not able
to concentrate on their work because of
constant sound pollution. Thus it is an
addition to the already exiting should
pollution and appropriate steps are
required to be taken for controlling the
same. But, as the use of such type of
horns is not permitted by the rules the
question of issuing any direction
prohibiting such use does not arise.
However, we consider it to be a fit case
in which some directions are to be issued.
Accordingly, we fell that it would be
appropriate, if at regular intervals
announcement is made through the
medium of All India Radio and
Doordarshan and the Press that the use
of multi-toned horns or such other devices
creating unduly harsh, shrill, loud or
alarming noise is prohibited. It will be
advisable if notices are exhibited at the
bus stops and at the RTO Offices
regarding the prohibition on the use
of multi-toned horns and similar
devices. The authorities may also
consider printing of a warning of
affixing of a rubber stamp on all
application forms required for fitness
certificates, permits and in the
registration books, that the use of multi-
toned horns and other similar devices
creating unduly harsh, shrill, loud or
alarming sounds is prohibited under the
Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
But all this would not be sufficient
unless follow up is taken by the
appropriate authorities against those
committing the breach.
19. The averments made in the
counter-
affidavit filed by the respondents and the
status report filed by the A.P. Pollution
Control Board clearly depict that there
exits
sound pollution in the City of Vijayawada
caused due to noise generated from motor
vehicles and air horns etc., fitted to them. It
also stands admitted that despite taken action
in this regard, the ambient Air Quality
Standards in respect of noise fixed by the
Central Pollution Control Board in terms of
the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control)
Rules, 2000 as also the directives issued
by
the Commissioner of Police had not produced
the desired results.
20. The Commissioner of
Police, Vijayawada city, therefore,
must take appropriate action not only for
the purpose of enforcement of the said
rules but also for implementation of the
guidelines issued by the A.P. Pollution
Control Board and furthermore shall take
appropriate action in accordance with
Rules 427 and 428 of A.P. Motor Vehicles
Rules, 1989, to prohibit the use of air
horns and see that the directives issued in
this regard from time to time are complied
with scrupulously. Announcements should
be made at regular intervals through the
electronic media, press as regards the
prohibition of the use of multi-toned
horns
or such other devices creating unduly harsh,
shrill, loud or alarming noise. The authority
should also issue appropriate directions
regarding printing of a warning or affixing
of a rubber stamp on all application forms
required for fitness certificates, permits and
in the registration books to the effect that
the use of such horns and other similar
devices creating unduly harsh, shrill, loud
or alarming sounds is prohibited under the
rules.
21. Let a copy of this order be
communicated to the Chief Secretary,
Government of Andhra Pradesh, Secretary,
Transport Department, Commissioner
of Transport, Director-General and
Inspector General of Police, for taking
appropriate follow up action in the light
of the above order.
22. For the reasons afore-
mentioned, the writ petition is disposed
of with the above directions. There shall
be no order as to costs.