Noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and pollution in other ways are intensifying in Bangladesh with noise pollution in urban life rising to a terrible magnitude day by day.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise levels above 55 decibels are harmful to the public health, but the noise pollution has reached its highest level of 120-130 decibels at some points in Dhaka city. Many other cities and towns in Bangladesh are also experiencing such noise pollution.
Against this backdrop, the government has taken initiative to control noise pollution. So, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has taken up a project to reduce noise pollution in Bangladesh to a tolerable level. The Department of Environment (DoE) is implementing the project ‘Integrated and Participatory Project to Control Noise Pollution’.
As part of the plan, the government wants to make Dhaka a noise pollution-free city for the first time. DoE’s officials said that the project involves collecting public opinion and implementing various awareness programmes. So, they are holding training and other programmes with government officials, representatives of NGOs, teachers, imams, journalists and people of other professions to make them aware and receive opinions from them over noise pollution.
However, the DoE is going to begin the project at the field level through making some points of Dhaka city ‘silent zones’.
DoE’s Director General Md Ashraf Uddin said, “We have taken initiative to make Dhaka a sound pollution free city. As part of the initiative, we first want to turn the Agargaon area into a ‘silent zone’ on an experimental basis. For this, mobile court operation will be carried out in the area from this week (June, 2021). Using experiences from Agargaon, we will conduct such activities in other areas in the capital. We believe that Dhaka will be a noise pollution free city someday.”
After implementing the step in the Agargaon area, the government has the plan to implement a ‘silent zone’ area around the Bangladesh Secretariat. Dhaka South City Corporation or the DoE will implement the plan, sources said.
It was known that the ‘Integrated and Participatory Project to Control Noise Pollution’ project began in the beginning of this year. Opinions from various sectors were taken in the last months. Now training and awareness programmes are going on, while the field level implementation programme is going to begin soon.
Talking to Bangladesh Post on Saturday, Additional Director General of DoE and Project Director Md Humayun Kabir said that the Department of Environment is implementing the project on noise pollution control in the period 2020-2022. “We are arranging training and awareness programmes before the field level work. We are training up and making the people who can have an impact on the common people in the society aware about the matter. As part of the programme, we arranged a training programme with imams of mosques on Saturday (June 12). Nearly one lakh people will be imparted sound awareness training under the project,” he added.
The DoE official informed that billboards and signboards would be set up in certain areas on the roadside, while leaflets, stickers and training manuals will be distributed to raise awareness to control the noise pollution. At least 2,000 mobile court and joint operations will be carried out across the country in this regard.
Earlier, a DoE’s survey showed that sound level in the capital city and other divisional cities of Bangladesh surpassed the permitted limit. The survey also shows that the noise pollution has reached its highest levels of 120-130 decibels in some points in Dhaka city.
Chairman of ENT Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital Prof Dr Sheikh Nurul Fattah Rumi said that many people suffer from hearing problems on a large scale due to the noise pollution. “As the science advances, our lives become easier, but our environment is being polluted in various ways, including the noise pollution which affects both physical and mental health. Alongside the hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart disease, insomnia and stress are also caused by the noise pollution, he added.
He, however, hoped that the DoE’s project would help raise awareness among common people about noise pollution.
The noise pollution can be controlled through using different laws and regulations. According to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2006, the permissible sound level for Bangladesh is 50 decibels for daytime and 40 decibels during the night in quiet areas, 70 decibels for daytime and 60 decibels for night in commercial areas, and 75 decibels for daytime and 70 decibels for night in industrial areas. The highest punishment for the noise pollution is one year of imprisonment, a Tk 5,000 fine, or both for the first time offense. For a second offense, the punishment will be six-month imprisonment, or a Tk 10,000 fine, or both.
However, the existing laws are not fully sufficient to control the sound pollution. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin at a programme recently said that necessary steps would be taken to enact new laws by amending the existing one in order to keep the ‘silent zones’ in Dhaka and different other cities.