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Noise pollution poisons city life

Blare of vehicles to blame, traffic police suffer from hearing loss


Published : 25 Jun 2021 09:55 PM | Updated : 26 Jun 2021 08:32 PM

Noise pollution in urban life is created from different sources, including industries and construction work, but the hydraulic horns of vehicles are the main source of the pollution in Bangladesh. 

According to experts and environmentalists, the noise that the engine of  vehicles produces is the main reason for the noise pollution in Dhaka city. The private cars are more responsible for the noise pollution than the public vehicles. 

Khandaker Mahmud Pasha, assistant director of Department of Environment (DoE), said that private cars emit 19.41 per cent more noise than other vehicles. The figure came through a survey of the DoE carried out in Dhaka. 

Dhaka with a population of about two crore has several lakh vehicles, including private cars. However, the number of private cars is increasing in the city and other towns. Alongside the vehicle density, traffic congestion in the capital city is also considered as one of the main sources of the noise pollution. 

Blare of the vehicles disturbs the city- dwellers, especially the traffic policemen who perform duties in city centres where there are a lot of vehicles and traffic jams. The noise pollution damages hearing, causes heart problems and has an impact on sleep patterns, said doctors. 

Chairman of ENT Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital Prof Dr Sheikh Nurul Fattah Rumi said that a major contribution to the noise is vehicular sound and people suffer from hearing problems on a large scale due to this. Traffic policemen are at an increased risk of hearing problems because they are engaged in controlling traffic. The traffic police serving many years together in the field are diagnosed with hearing problems. Besides, the hydraulic horn as well as the sound pollution causes serious health hazards to children in the city, he added. 

He also said, “As the science advances, our lives become easier, but our environment is being polluted in various ways, including the noise pollution that affects both physical and mental health. Alongside the hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart disease, insomnia and stress are among the common effects.”

However, no survey has yet been conducted on the large scale auditory effects on traffic policemen in Bangladesh because of sound pollution.

Talking to the Bangladesh Post on Friday, Ziaur Rahman Litu of environmental organisation Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust, said that the roar of the vehicles disables the people to concentrate on their thoughts while moving and walking down the roads and footpaths in the city. 

He said that traffic policemen are considered as a vulnerable group of hearing loss as they are exposed to long hours of traffic noise. “Although no survey was carried out in this regard, we have talked to many traffic policemen at different times on different occasions. Most of them talked about their hearing problems. So, it can be said that traffic policemen suffer more hearing problems than other people,” he added. 

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic Tejgaon) SM Shamim said that a total of 115 cases were filed last year for hydraulic horns. It is not possible to prevent the noise pollution with lawsuits. Everyone’s cooperation is needed to control the sound pollution in the city, he added. 

Md. Lokman Hossen Mollah, Director (Operation) of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), said the BRTA has included the noise pollution issue seriously in their training activities. They will work with the Department of the Environment (DoE) to control it.