Mumbai's 'Musical Road' Hits A Sour Note As Residents Call It 'Very Irritating': 'My Son's Class 12 Exams Are Going On'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Mumbai now has a“singing road,” and it's causing both amusement and annoyance. The 500-metre musical stretch has been created on the northbound carriageway of the Coastal Road, between Nariman Point and Worli, just after vehicles exit the Coastal Road tunnel.

On a designated stretch of the Coastal Road, vehicles travelling at 70–80 km/h over specially installed grooves produce friction-generated sound waves that play the melody of the iconic song Jai Ho from the film Slumdog Millionaire, audible clearly inside the vehicle.

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The first phase of this initiative covers a 500-metre stretch, with plans underway to expand the musical road concept further.

Here's what residents say

Residents of the upscale Breach Candy neighbourhood say the musical road has become a constant nuisance rather than a novelty. Kavita Chawla, a resident near Tata Gardens, told The Independent,“The sound is really disturbing,” noting that what was meant to be a temporary feature has turned into, in her words,“a menace” in daily life.

Namrata Sanghai, another resident of Vaibhav Apartments, who lives on the 22nd floor, told The Independent,“My son's 12th standard exams are going on and he is sitting with his window shut the whole day, which is not really very conducive for health, but we really don't have a choice. It's very, very irritating and very, very disturbing.”

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A user on X wrote,“The stretch on Mumbai Coastal Road plays 'Jai Ho' as cars pass rumble strips - but residents near Breach Candy say it's become a daily disturbance from 6 am to midnight. Complaints sent to authorities seeking action.”

Earlier, stand-up comedian Azeem Banatwalla shared a satirical Instagram video joking that drivers following the speed limit might hear a melody reminiscent of A. R. Rahman's Grammy-winning track Jai Ho.

He joked that the roads didn't even require actual music, as“every time he hit a pothole, his lower back channelled the pained vocals of Atif Aslam.”

Highlighting his bewilderment over the city's condition, he quipped that the only“Mayer” Mumbai had been excited about in six years was John Mayer.

Watch video:

How does the musical road work?

Along the central divider, grooves, known as rumble strips, have been cut so that tyres generate sound vibrations matching the tune of Jai Ho when vehicles drive at 70–80 km/h.

Consul General of Hungary, Ferenc Jári told ANI,“...This concept of melody road is pretty rare in the world. There are only a couple of countries which have melody roads. But the cheapest way to set up a melody road, the cheapest technology comes from Hungary...An Indian businessman visited Hungary and incidentally he drove on the melody road. Then he approached me and asked me if we can have such a project in India. We contacted the Hungarian engineer and his team and we started preparing this project...BMC offered the coastal roads and the song has been chosen, Jai Ho and we look forward to the response of Mumbai cars...”

Residents urgeBMC to discontinue musical road

The residents' forum, representing more than 650 families, has raised concerns over the musical stretch, stating that the tune plays daily from 6 am to midnight, adding to the already high levels of traffic noise, according to reports.

They have formally demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) discontinue the musical road, though the civic body has yet to respond.

My son's 12th standard exams are going on... it's very, very irritating and very, very disturbing.

According to the residents, the amplified music“enters homes as a constant, muffled but intrusive background noise,” forcing people to keep their windows shut. Senior citizens, in particular, have reportedly experienced serious discomfort.

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The forum's letter noted,“Residents are increasingly fatigued from repeatedly raising serious civic concerns, only to find attention focused on avoidable and non-essential interventions,” highlighting that the deafening noise from speeding supercars on the Coastal Road continues to go unaddressed. They urged the civic administration to immediately review and discontinue the music initiative, calling it unnecessary and disruptive to daily life in the neighbourhood.

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