The Motor Vehicle department's act of destroying seized air horns by crushing them with a road roller in various parts of Kochi has triggered a debate on the intention behind the move. The MVD on Monday crushed hundreds of air horns before the media near the Ernakulam KSRTC bus stand, Paravur, and Mattanchery.

The MVD had recently launched an intensive drive to crack down on the use of high-decibel air horns following instructions from Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar. He had ordered MVD officials to confiscate air horns from vehicles and destroy them in public after he got miffed at aggressive honking by a seemingly impatient heavy-vehicle driver during a public event recently.

Congress leader Jyothikumar Chamakkala, who contested unsuccessfully against Ganesh Kumar in the 2021 Assembly polls, was among those who took exception to the MVD's action. Alleging that a road roller used to crush the air horns lacked pollution certificate, he said the MVD was allowing air pollution in the name of curbing sound pollution.

Meanwhile, the MVD has defended the action citing the strong intention behind it. "The law does not say that seized illegal items should not be destroyed. The Minister must have wanted to send out a strong message to the public against the offence," an MVD official said. He added that the MVD used to destroy illegal items, including air horns seized from vehicles, after keeping them at the department's store rooms for some time.

On criticism that the MVD had only destroyed the pipes of the horns while allowing the remaining parts to stay intact in the vehicles, the official said it was impractical to remove the whole device from a vehicle on the road. "It can cause damage to the vehicle. So, we instruct vehicle owners to get it removed properly at a workshop," the official said. He also downplayed the criticism about the lack of pollution certificate for a road roller used by the department, saying it was a routine process to allow vehicle owners to produce pollution certificate within seven days of finding the violation.

The MVD seized air horns on detecting the violation following a 2007 circular, which was issued following a High Court order, which observed that air horn was not legally permitted by the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. "Vehicle owners can still challenge the destruction of the seized objects before the court in case," advocate Rilgin V. George said.

MVD defends destruction air horns in public amid criticism