Motor Vehicles Department, Maharashtra (MMVD) and TATA Group to host the first ever ‘TATA Horn – Not – Ok – Please’ T20 Cup at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Tata-Horn-Not-Ok-T20-Cup-Panelist-From-Left-to-Right-Mr.-Pradipta-Bagchi-–-TATA-Sons-Ajinkya-Rahane-and-Sh.-Satish-Sahastrabuddhe-–-Additional-Transport-Commissioner

The exhibition cricket match will be played to raise awareness for the ongoing Road Safety and No Honking Initiative on Saturday, 24^th March 2018

22^nd March 2018, Mumbai: Motor Vehicles Department, Maharashtra (MVD) in association with the TATA Group have come together to host the ‘Horn Not Ok Please’ T20 Cup to raise awareness for the ongoing Road Safety and No Honking initiative. This exhibition match will be played by two teams – ‘Road Safety XI’ and ‘No Honking XI’ featuring the best cricket players of India at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

The latest effort to raise awareness for this campaign is to spread the word through India’s most loved sport – cricket.  Cricket has a special meaning to Indians and perhaps there is no better way to spread the word about road safety and the perils of honking other than the gentleman’s game. This upcoming match will feature India’s top cricketing stars such as Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, K L Rahul, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya and Suresh Raina.

The No Honking initiative began with the aim to reduce and possibly eliminate the trauma caused by noise pollution. Vehicular honking in cities has reached alarming levels, contributing 70% of the noise pollution in our environment. Honking is a menace that is plaguing our city and affecting our health. Normal acceptable ambient sound levels for human habitation is below 55 decibels. Honking creates sounds of 110 decibels and above. Mumbai registers over 70 db of ambient noise for long hours – much higher than is safe for human habitation levels. This causes various health concerns ranging from headache, stress, hearing loss, insomnia, dementia, hypertension and aggression, leading to cardiac problems.

What started off as a campaign on social media, the No Honking initiative has now gained thousands of followers online, lakhs of citizen pledges and support from over 100 well-known personalities including doctors, Padma Shri and Magsaysay awardees, actors and sportsmen.

Indian cricket sensation Ajinkya Rahane, Sh. Satish Sahastrabuddhe – Additional Transport Commissioner, Maharashtra and Mr. Pradipta Bagchi – TATA Sons addressed the media and unveiled the logo for the upcoming star-studded match.

Speaking at the launch event Ajinkya Rahane, Member – Indian Cricket Team said, “Noise pollution is a serious issue especially in large metro cities like Mumbai. I’m happy to be part of the No Honking Initiative and contribute in the best way I can, by playing cricket. Even though it is a friendly game, it definitely will be extremely competitive among us once we take the field.”

Sh. Satish Sahastrabuddhe, Additional Transport Commissioner, Maharashtra said, “The numbers speak for themselves. There are more than 1.5 lakh deaths by road accidents in the country every year, and Maharashtra accounts for 15,000 deaths! What we need at this moment is a behavioral change amongst citizens. MVD has undertaken this initiative to effect a long-term change…we shall actively run this initiative until the concern of road safety and no honking is properly and adequately addressed.”

Mr. Pradipta Bagchi, Group Chief Communications Officer – TATA Sons said, “The TATA Group is proud to be part of the No Honking Initiative that has gathered tremendous momentum and support from the city of Mumbai. As a globally reputed enterprise and long term advocate of road safety, we hope that through this initiative we can raise the quotient for ‘Respect on Roads’ and bring about desired change.”

Starting XI Lineups

The match will be played on Saturday, 24^th March 2018 at the Wankhede Stadium, 05:00 P.M. onwards.