Indian government to replace car horns with sound of traditional instruments

India's federal transport minister Nitin Gadkari said he will soon introduce a law to replace the sound of vehicle horns with the sound of Indian musical instruments.

Mr Gadkari on Monday added that he is also considering replacing the sirens used by ambulances and police vehicles with a more pleasant tune played on the country's national broadcaster All India Radio.

“Now I want to put an end to these sirens as well. Now I am studying the sirens (used by) ambulances and police," he said at a highway inauguration ceremony in the western state of Maharashtra.

Mr Gadkari, a lawmaker from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said he finds it "irritating" when ministers travel on the road blazing sirens on full volume.

"This also harms the ear," he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

"An artist composed a tune of All Indian Radio and it was played early in the morning. I am thinking of using that tune for ambulances so that people feel pleasant. I am studying this and soon planning to make a law that the horns of all vehicles should be in Indian musical instruments so that it is pleasant to hear," he said.

The minister added that the sounds of flute, tabla, violin, mouth organ and harmonium, among other Indian instruments, will be considered.

Following the announcement, netizens had a field day on social media, sharing their opinions on the possible result of the proposed law.

Akshay Dongare, a journalist with a news channel, shared a video on Twitter that showed several musicians playing off-tune notes on their instruments, hinting at what could happen on one of the nation’s capital’s busiest roads.

Twitter user Elina shared a video from the film “Mad Max”, albeit with classical music in the background, to depict the possible chaos on roads in the wake of the proposed law.

Journalist Manu Sebastian shared a photograph of a classical music concert with the caption “traffic jams after this”.