Residents of one of India’s most upmarket neighbourhoods say the country’s first “musical road” has turned their daily lives into a nightmare soundtrack.
A stretch of Mumbai’s recently opened Coastal Road seafront expressway has been engineered to play the pulsating Oscar-winning tune Jai Ho from the movie Slumdog Millionaire when vehicles drive on it at lower speeds.
Civic officials say the feature is intended to encourage safer driving and is the first of its kind in India.
Most musical roads worldwide have been built in less populated areas, but Mumbai’s runs past Breach Candy, home to industrialists, Bollywood stars and other high-profile celebrities.
Residents say the refrain of Jai Ho, which roughly translates from Hindi as “let there be victory”, plays repeatedly from 6am until midnight.
More than 650 families have signed a formal complaint urging authorities to stop the music, describing it as constant “intrusive background noise” that has caused significant distress.
The tune “enters homes”, the complaint says, and many households keep their windows shut to block it out.
Japan pioneered the concept of a musical road in 2007, and they have since appeared in countries including Hungary, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
In Mumbai, India’s financial centre, civic officials pitched the project as a blend of engineering and entertainment and, most importantly, as a safety measure.
Engineers have carved grooves in the asphalt that act like a giant vinyl record. When vehicles pass over them at between 45 and 50mph (70 and 80km/h), vibrations produce the tune composed by the Indian musician AR Rahman.
If they drive too fast, the vibrations become uncomfortable, motivating drivers to slow down. Signs alert motorists before the musical stretch, telling them the speed required to experience the tune.
The 500-metre section was inaugurated on 11 February by the Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, who described it as a “showcase of innovation”.
Authorities have defended the feature as helping to keep drivers alert while reinforcing speed discipline, but resident do not agree.
In their complaint to Mumbai’s municipal commissioner and copied to the Maharashtra chief minister’s office, they flag the “auditory distraction on a high-speed road” as a potential safety hazard.
They also accuse the authorities of focusing on what they see as a speed-control gimmick while failing to address more urgent concerns, such as high-performance cars roaring along Coastal Road at breakneck speed.
The music is not broadcast through loudspeakers, but residents say its repetitive nature makes it difficult to ignore. At a time when many cities are working to reduce noise pollution, Mumbai is moving in the opposite direction, they argue.
The eight-lane Coastal Road has been controversial since it was first proposed in 2011. The $1.6bn project has cut the driving time between Marine Drive and Worli from 45 minutes to about 10.
But critics say the taxpayer-funded motorway, built on land reclaimed from the Arabian Sea, mainly benefits wealthier car owners, while the rest of Mumbai’s 23 million residents have to rely on jam-packed buses and trains.
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