Generating noise

The Department of Environment (DoE) on August 8 fined four business organisations Tk 6.5 lakh for causing noise pollution through generators at Gulshan in the capital. It's a great initiative following up on complaints from some locals against the organisations.
According to the noise pollution control rules, the permissible noise level is 60 decibel in the area, said Mohammad Munir Chowdhury, director of DoE. The buildings fined were emitting 81 to 101 decibels. But this is not an isolated case. While the penalised buildings were mainly commercial ones, many residential buildings also violate the noise pollution laws. Steps taken to ensure noise reduction must include a certain thickness of the ground the generator is placed upon, soundproofing of all panels and ducting and the use of muffler/silencer for both exhaust and intake systems. In most cases, generators are often set up with cursory measures for noise suppression and many are run with unrestricted exhausts.
Chronic exposure to noise may cause noise-induced hearing loss. This is exponentially more harmful to children who have much more sensitive hearing than adults. Studies have shown that prolonged noise pollution also causes annoyance and aggression, hypertension and a statistical rise in blood pressure.
While the DoE is commended for its activities, it still needs to ramp up its efforts to check the deleterious noise levels in residential areas. DoE needs to not only identify the sources but also provide a certain time period for remedial measures before penalising the violators. In many cases, residents don't even know that there is a noise limit or even the fact that they can complain. The heat and humidity reaching unbearable levels during load-shedding can compound the misery. We cannot simply accept impermissible high-decibel noise.