Campaigning sound trucks spread nuisance

With the General Elections barely a week away, many political parties and independent candidates have magnified the scale and vehemence of their political campaigning drives by hiring sound trucks for publicizing their manifestos to more and more people across residential areas however, the ebullient strategy for garnering votes has blatantly ruined the sleep of school going children and the peace of bedridden elderly.

For instance, Hina, a resident of Kemari, expressed her concerns for the health of her sick, elderly mother, who was constantly disturbed by the trumpeting sounds of the sound truck passing across their house. “My mother is a patient of chronic hypertension and clinical depression. Since the past few days her condition has aggravated due to the loud noises emanating from the campaigning sound trucks,” complained Hina, who urged political parties to show sensitivity to the concerns of the public and lower the volumes of the speakers during the campaigning drives.

Similarly, Kamran, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, alluded to the fact that blaring party anthems played on sound trucks not only disturbed the peace of the sick and the elderly but also pestered school going children. “Children cannot sleep at night due to the noisy announcements and blasting music of sound trucks,” lamented Kamran, who haplessly discerned that citizens will have to endure these conditions until Election Day.

According to Asghar, a transport service provider, and Muhammad Ali, a sound system seller, several mainstream parties including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) among other parties and candidates have hired the services of sound trucks for a last minute amplification of their election campaigns. “Party flags and candidate pictures are displayed on these trucks, which play the anthems and manifestos of the party through echo systems across different localities from 5pm onwards until midnight,” revealed Ali.

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In addition to the concerns of disturbed residents, auditory experts like Professor Dr. Abdul Razzaq Dogar, Head of the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Department at the Jinnah Hospital also expressed their worries for the hearing capacities of the individuals constantly exposed to the blaring noise of sound trucks.

“Nowadays, various parties are using echo sound systems for their election campaigns. The range of sound in a normal conversation between two people remains between 30 to 40 decibels. The human ear cannot tolerate any sound above 80 decibels. When these sound trucks play their songs and announcements, they usually keep the volume full, and the sound level crosses 100 decibels in no time. This can badly affect the eardrum and ear bones of the listeners, and if the sound is continuously loud, their hearing ability may be hampered too since the ear is a very sensitive part of the body and it is important to take care of it. Furthermore, loud noises can also elevate the levels of anger among people, who start becoming readily flustered,” alerted Dr Dogar, who further requested all contesting parties and independent candidates to take note of these hazards during their campaigning drives on sound trucks.

Speaking to the Express Tribune on the matter, the local spokespersons of the MQM-P, JIP and PPP conceded to the claims that vehicles equipped with sound systems were being used for their election campaigns. “We have instructed the sound truck drivers to limit the volume of the sound systems so that the public is not disturbed,” they assured.

On the other hand the spokesperson of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) claimed that no such sound trucks were used in their publicity campaigns.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2024.