It’s all too loud
It seems practically impossible to find an area inside Dhaka without noise pollution, as evident by a recent study -- that collected data from 70 neighbourhoods in the city and found sound levels higher than permissible levels in every one of them.
Findings of the study, by Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), were disclosed at a press conference organised by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity yesterday.
The extent of sound pollution in the secretariat area still is uncontrolled, although the government on December 17 last year declared it a “silent area”.
Presenting the study, Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder -- professor of Environmental Science at Stamford University -- said people from almost all areas including silent, residential and mixed categories in the city are facing noise pollution.
In the secretariat area, he said they found the lowest level of sound at 99.5 decibels (dB) at Shikkha Bhaban area, and the highest of 124.1 dB at Paltan bus stand.
The standard noise level should be within 50 dB in a silent zone, according to Bangladesh’s noise pollution guidelines.
The data was collected using sound level meters during daytime at 12 spots surrounding the secretariat area, and other places of the capital between December 14 to 22 last year, Dr Kamruzzaman added.
Chairing the press conference, Bapa Executive Vice President Dr Md Abdul Matin termed vehicle horns the main source of sound pollution.
“Vehicles of different government officials do not obey the law regarding sound pollution, so how we could expect that general drivers would follow it?” he questioned.
Matin stressed on enhancing responsible role of all drivers to control sound pollution in the city.
General Secretary of the environment rights body Sharif Jamil said health risks including the number of patients with heart diseases are increasing day by day due to intolerable sound.
“Besides raising public awareness, a long-term plan is needed to eliminate such crisis” Sharif Jamil observed.
An 11-point recommendation was also presented at the press conference. The recommendations include: undertaking scientific research and awareness programmes before declaring a “silent area”; installing signposts in different zones; conducting mobile courts regularly; not transforming residential areas into commercial areas; increasing coordination among all stakeholders; stopping import of hydraulic horns; increasing penalty for noise pollution through horns; issuing licenses after verifying drivers’ sound awareness; increasing use of public vehicles instead of private vehicles; increasing greenery on city streets; determining standard level of sound for all types of vehicles and generators; not issuing exemptions in setting up factories without taking steps to reduce noise level; and implementation of proper laws in this regard.
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