TO HEAR FOR LIFE
| Meeting Date | 13 Jan 2025 |
| Meeting Time | 19:00:00 |
| Location | Poona club,camp |
| Meeting Type | Regular |
| Meeting Topic | TO HEAR FOR LIFE |
| Meeting Agenda | 1.Rotary business 2.Secretary Announcement 3. Talk by our guest speaker. 4.Vote of thanks |
| Chief Guest | DR. KALYANI MANDKE |
| Club Members Present | 47 |
| Minutes of Meeting | The meeting began with the presentation of a vocational excellence citation prepared by Rtn Jayashree Kuber, Director Vocational Service, to Dr. Mandke for the yeoman service she has rendered in the field of Audiology and Aural rehabili- tation. At a time when no one was prepared to pay heed to the need for prevention of noise pollution, Dr. Mandke com- menced her lone battle for action and continued to talk about it for twenty years before others came forward to join hands with her. She is the recipient of several awards for her work and has served on a number of national and international bod- ies in various capacities. Our ears are the most overworked organs as they never sleep. It is therefore essential to prevent the continuous assault on our eardrums by loud noises of various kinds that have become a part of day-to-day life mainly in urban areas. Loud mu- sic, traffic sounds like honking and rattling of poorly maintained vehicles, noises created by machinery in factories and construction sites can and do have adverse effects on our health and general wellbeing by causing irritability, sleep disturbance, and negative effects on cardiovascular and metabolic system. Exposure to loud noise also affects animals and birds adversely by creating pain, fear and cognitive problems as these species depend on sound for finding food, protecting themselves from predators, keeping in touch with their mates and off- spring and alerting each other to danger. Loud noise prevents such aural communica- tion. It can result in denuding large areas of bird population which in turn can affect sur- vival and growth of vegetation that depends on animals and birds for pollination. This chain reaction can create an imbalance in the eco system. These far-reaching effects of noise pollution were explained by Dr. Mandke lucidly with the help of slides. She also discussed the need for stricter action to curb playing of music at high decibels, proper urban planning to prevent close proximity of residential, industrial and commercial spaces, planting more trees for absorbing loud noises etc. Dr Mandke’s talk was informative as well as thought provoking. It made us aware of a serious health hazard that has not received the attention it deserves and of the responsibility we all share to mitigate the ill effects of noise pollution by turning off appliances when not in use, lowering volume of entertainment systems, regular maintenance of vehicles and avoiding unnecessary honking. A vote of thanks proposed by PP Dipak Thacker brought the meeting to a close. |
