<i>Nuisance of thunderous noise from car stereos</i>
Just after midnight, Modhubagh resident Julfikar Ahmed jolts out of his sleep by a thunderous noise roaring out from speakers attached to a car in the adjacent street.
He tried to get back to sleep but the pounding music kept hammering in his ears. Putting a pillow over his head did not help either. It seemed the ground was quivering.
Julfikar silently wished for the car to leave his neighbourhood. It was not before a piercing and shrieking half minute when the boisterous sound finally started moving and slowly died out.
"I get this loud music problem even at 2-3 o'clock in the morning," said Julfikar. "Listening to music is one thing, but invading into another person's ears with loud bellowing is quite another," he said.
Countless fellow Dhaka dwellers share his sense of displeasure.
"A lot of people tend to drive their cars in streets with car stereos blazing at full volume. They show little consideration for others," said Ashfaq Hossain, a Dhanmondi resident.
A good number of these cars are modified with high-end sound systems that make even shrill horns sound like a whimper.
"I myself used to have a 500-watt sound system in my car, but I was always conscious of who could hear my music. I would never turn it up so loud that it may become irritating for other people," Ashfaq said.
Experts consider loud car stereos as one of the major sources of noise pollution.
"The most powerful sounds we encounter include jets taking off, loud amplified music, gunshots, and chainsaws. Just a single exposure to these sounds can damage our ears," said Dr Mahbubur Rahman, an otologist and private practitioner.
The Environment Conservation Rules 1997 specifies the standard limit of sound in residential and commercial areas. The standard is 50 decibels in residential areas at daytime and 40 decibels at night. The standard unit in case of mixed area, meaning mainly residential but also used for commercial and industrial purposes, is 60 decibels.
Loud car stereos may exceed both forms of decibel limits. They may raise the decibel level up to 100, which is equal to the noise produced by a chainsaw or pneumatic drill.
"Listening to loud music while driving can seriously hamper reaction times and cause accidents. People may take up to 20 percent longer to perform physical and mental tasks when in contact with loud music," said Dr Rahman.
Immediate or not, noise pollution has grave effects both on the physical and mental health. Continued exposure to noise damages one's hearing ability. The louder the noise the less time it takes to cause loss of hearing, he added.
"Loud music also pumps up the adrenalin, which can lead to dangerous and fast driving and aggressive behaviour," Dr Rahman said.
"It should be illegal to drive a car when the music is so loud that the driver cannot hear another car's horn," said a traffic sergeant.
However, loud car stereo lovers have different views.
"It is so insignificant and people who moan about them are simply looking for things to complain about,” said Shahriar Ahmed, an undergraduate student.
“People should not waste time of policemen to stop cars with loud music, when there are far greater concerns and dangers in the world we live in today," he said.
"When somebody is playing their car stereo it generally implies they are driving and therefore cannot be subjecting anyone to their noise for longer than 30 seconds at a time. If they are parked near your house, it might be a problem. But it's rare,” he said.
Criticising playing of car stereos at high volume, Tahmina Islam, a schoolteacher said: "I find car stereos playing at full volume really irritating."
Sources at the Traffic Department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said the new trend has yet to become a major issue.
"Although use of loud car stereos is not that extensive, it is still a major source of noise pollution. We will take actions against such car drivers if we find them creating nuisance for others," said Jasimuddin, joint commissioner of DMP Traffic.
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