Mumbai’s ‘musical road’ has locals driven to distraction

A 500-metre stretch of asphalt engineered to play a ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ tune when cars drive over it has upset residents

- MAROOSHA MUZAFFAR NOOPUR JAMBHEKAR

It’s barely been two weeks since the inauguration of India’s first “musical road” engineered to play a popular tune as vehicles drive by - but local residents are already fed up with it.

They say the stretch of road in Mumbai, which is designed to play the song “Jai Ho” from the Oscar-winning film SlumdogMillionaire when vehicles drive along at a mandated speed, is disrupting their daily lives.

The 500-metre stretch, opened on 11 February by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of the western state of Maharashtra, is India’s first attempt at musical roads.

Engineers carved grooves into the asphalt so that passing vehicles would generate vibrations to recreate the melody, effectively turning the road into a giant musical instrument.

Driving at 70-80kmph produces the tune clearly, while speeding too fast distorts the sound, encouraging drivers to slow down.

Officials describe the project as a fusion of innovation, entertainment, and road safety. Signage on the route informs drivers how to experience the musical stretch, and authorities say it is meant to keep motorists alert.

However, residents of the upscale Breach Candy neighbourhood, home to celebrities, industrialists, and other high-profile figures, describe it as a constant and deeply disruptive presence in their daily lives. What was initially perceived as a temporary or novel feature has become, in their words, “a menace”.

“The sound is really disturbing,” Kavita Chawla, a resident of Vaibhav Apartments, near Tata Gardens in Breach Candy, told