The sound pollution due to use of hydraulic horns is now a days creating public nuisance, posing a serious health hazards to the dwellers of the country’s metropolitan cities, particularly the capital, medical experts said.
Most of the pollution comes from the use of hydraulic horns, used in various vehicles, particularly buses and trucks. There are rules to reduce the level of sound pollution but in reality these rules have never been implemented against the offenders, added the experts.
Sources said, to cut the growing level of noise pollution created by motor vehicles, industries and amplifiers, the Government formulated the Noise Pollution Control Rules under the Environment Conservation Act of 1995.
People, especially the dwell.
0ers of Dhaka city, are suffering from noise pollution beyond permitted level but the Department of Environment (DoE) has not yet taken any legal action against any offenders, making a mockery with those rules.
However, the DoE sources said that they have neither adequate manpower nor logistic support to do it.
The previous BNP-led four-party alliance government had imposed a ban on the use of hydraulic horns in the vehicles in the metropolitan cities.
And at that time the Government implemented these laws with strict hand which resulted in total removal of the hydraulic horn in the metropolis. But now it comes back again in the cities, including the capital.
Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain recently said that the Government had banned the use of hydraulic horn in different cities, including Dhaka, many years ago. “However, such horns are still being used in many vehicles. Now we’ve taken decision to ban the import of such hydraulic horns,” he said. “Use of hydraulic horn is very loud and can hurt the eardrums. Though there are sets of laws to prevent sound pollution, people do not know about them because of indifference, and continue to suffer from freshly imported hydraulic horns,” the Minister added.
Cardiologists said noise pollution and overcrowding enhance the chance of hypertension, heart attack and stroke.
Normally, noise pollution aggravates most of the ailments related with blood pressure and affects people’s behavioural pattern,” they added.
A recent technical report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed a correlation between noise pollution and high prevalence of hypertension among dwellers around the Heathrow Airport in London, said Mr Haq, a WHO adviser.
Dr Shariful Islam, who is now working on sound pollution, said babies are affected even in the mothers’ womb if pregnant women are irritated with high noise pollution beyond a tolerable level.
“It affects normal physical and mental growth of a child and decreases intelligence level,” he said, adding: “Children may suffer from hearing impairment. Noise pollution also causes headache and loss of appetite to the adults.”
Sources said the Mobile Court can penalise the honkers for using horns beyond permissible sound limit and ban hydraulic horns with a fine of just Tk 100 under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance.
The Noise Pollution Control Rules, however, provide for a month’s imprisonment or a fine of Tk 5,000 or both for the first-time offence and six months’ imprisonment or fine of Tk 10,000 or both for the second time.
The rules say the authorities concerned will decide on the permissible limit of noise on the basis of which category the area belongs to silent, residential, commercial, mixed or industrial zone.
Hospitals, educational institutions and offices constitute the silent zone. The permissible noise level within 100 metres radius of such a zone is 50 decibel during daytime and 40 during night.
Permissible sound limit at residential areas during daytime is 55 decibel and 45 during night. Daytime limit in a mixed area, a combination of residential, commercial and industrial areas, is 60 decibel at daytime and 50 at nighttime.
For commercial areas noise limit at daytime is 70 and 60 decibel during night while in an industrial area it is 75 at daytime and 70 at nighttime.
Operation of brick-crushing machines within a 500-metre radius of a residential area is clearly prohibited. Use of concrete mixture machine and other construction tools is also banned from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am.
