The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office in coordination with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has reintroduced the ‘no-horn’ policy in bid to control noise pollution effective from Sunday.

Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah and Deputy Inspector General Mira Chaudhari, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, jointly announced the reintroduction of the policy at a function held at Singha Durbar on Sunday.

The reintroduction of the policy is the latest of the authorities’ efforts to tame noise pollution in the Valley and to make its application more ‘stringent’.

This is the third time that the traffic police and the KMC have intensified the ‘no horn’ policy since its introduction in 2017. The authorities made a similar announcement in 2019.

Between 2017 and 2019, the traffic police booked 12,271 drivers for unnecessary honking in public spaces.

The ‘no horn’ policy in the Valley is applicable to all vehicles except emergency ones like ambulances and fire engines.

The KMC has printed pamphlets to spread the message while Padma Kanya Multiple Campus has deployed 100 volunteers for two weeks to help implement the policy effectively.

Both Shah and Chaudhari pasted stickers labeled ‘no horn’ on their vehicles and on other public vehicles on the road outside Singhadurbar.

Speaking at the function, Shah said the City is coordinating with the Valley police to give continuity to the ‘no horn’ policy. “The policy has been in place for a while but its implementation has become weak,” Shah said. “That’s why we are putting the focus back on the policy.”

Chaudhari requested all stakeholders to help make the drive a success.

“Drivers should not honk unless it's an emergency,” said Chaudhari, adding if anyone is found blowing horns without reason, they will be booked by the traffic police and will be liable to a fine of Rs500.

According to the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act-1993, drivers caught blowing horns in restricted zones will have to pay fines up to Rs1,500.

The traffic on Kathmandu roads has increased exponentially in the past five years and so have traffic jams and noise pollution.

In 2017, when the authorities first announced the ‘no horn’ policy, Kathmandu Valley had 1.18 Million vehicles plying the Valley’s roads daily. Five years later, the number has reached 1.75 million, according to traffic police reports.

“Horns from vehicles not only disturb us,” Shah said, “but also irritate us and can lead to mental stress.”