Aminul Haque has paid dearly for earning his bread and butter as he lost much of his hearing due to noise pollution at his workplace.
Aminul, 36, has been working at the production section of an export oriented garment factory for ten years now.
“As he is exposed to acute noise pollution for a long time at a stretch, his hearing is affected severely,” said his physician Nazmul Islam, medical officer of the Department of ENT of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
During the course of treatment, the doctor noticed the patient gradually losing his hearing. He also asked Aminul to find a job in a noise-free environment.
“Wherever there is noise pollution, the workers there invariably have their hearing impaired. But unfortunately, people give little thought to it for lack of awareness,” he said adding that random honking in the capital makes the situation even worse.
According to the Noise Pollution (Control) Rules 2006, hospitals, educational institutions, offices and courts are designated as silent zones where the rate of sound should remain within 50 decibels during the day.
But often the sound level crosses the 100 decibels mark in the capital, revealed a research of Work for Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust. The sound level was measured from April to May 2009.
The study disclosed that the sound level reaches 94 decibels at Viquarunnesa Noon School and College and 105 decibels at Shahbagh where two major hospitals treat patients.
Students of Viquarunnesa Noon School claimed that the sound of honking often distracts them when they attend classes. Very few of them knew that their school is a silent zone.
An earlier study of WBB Trust in 2007 revealed that the magnitude of sound was almost double compared to the level set in 2006 rules. Honking was 96 percent responsible for sound pollution.
Swelling noise pollution in the capital in the last two years worsened the residents’ physical and mental health, especially those of the children, added the study.
“Currently the sound pollution level in the city and especially in its residential suburbs is 80 decibels on an average. The range remains between 80 and 90 decibels at Shahbagh intersection, Farmgate and Mohakhali rail crossing,” said Pran Gopal Datta, vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
“A person can stay at a place for only half an hour if the sound level is 90 decibels. Otherwise he will have noise-induced hearing loss. But the sound level should remain 40 to 50 decibels for a properly suited workplace,” added the VC, also an ENT expert.
Physicians at BSMMU said children’s mental development is hampered severely due to sound pollution. It is also responsible for headache, heart disease, reduced thinking capacity.
If a person with hypertension is constantly exposed to sound pollution, his blood pressure will increase certainly and it will finally lead to cardiac arrest, warned the physicians.
Noise pollution also creates irritation and from irritation people gradually get frustrated and suffer from depression and anxiety, said a psychiatrist of BSMMU.
The Noise Pollution (Control) Rules 2006 prohibited honking in 100-metre radius of the hospitals, educational institutes and offices. It also barred using machines in breaking bricks and stones for construction work within 500-metre radius of a residential area. Prior permission was made mandatory for using loudspeaker for any occasion.
The rules also made provision for punishment to stop noise pollution. The sentence includes a maximum of one-month jail term or fine of Tk 5,000 or both for the first time offence. For repeated offence, the punishment would increase to the maximum of six months’ jail term or fine of Tk 10,000 or both.
While talking to The Daily Star, Director of Department of Environment (DoE) Billal Hossain said a special drive was launched in the city in 2008 to check noise pollution.
“But as we are paying more attention to drives against using polythene, emission of black fumes from vehicles and industries, the monitoring on noise pollution has slowed down recently,” he admitted saying that as the mobile court is not incorporated in the rules of 2006, they face trouble in fining the offenders.
The authorities of DoE also admitted that their drive has seen a slow pace.
In September 2008 the Directorate of Environment through an advertisement at different newspapers forbade the drivers to honk randomly.
It also said “High volume of sound causes hearing impairment, high blood pressure, hinders digestive system, creates muscle problem and obstructs child’s development process. It may even lead to death.”
But for the lack of continuous drive and campaign people pay little heed to mindless honking.
Many bus and truck drivers say nobody ever checked the horns and they were not fined for honking randomly.
