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Article
Bangladesh, For action against noise
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17/jun/2007 |
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bang | | Editorial Page
For action against noise
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Sat, 16 Jun 2007, 13:26:00
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RECENTLY, honking in a few busy roads of Dhaka city, has been forbidden by official orders. But this is only a very limited response to a problem of much bigger dimension. The government makes a move in some cases to address issues of significance to people. But those do not succeed due to lack of pursuance and follow-up. There appears to be an inexcusable lethargy in pushing through a piece of legislation considered vital from the standpoint of public health to which the government seemed responsive, made an initiative to enact the same and then for no good reason has been sitting on it.
The government decided two years ago that it would make laws to control noise pollution. Accordingly, the draft of a bill was prepared that recommended Taka 10,000 fine and maximum six months of imprisonment for producing noise higher than the permissible limits. But for reasons better known to the concerned authorities the draft bill has not progressed since then. Unlike in other areas, there are probably no powerful and influential vested interest groups who would want to see such a piece of legislation frustrated. Why then, this foot dragging with the proposed law which can be of great value to millions of people who are progressively losing their hearing abilities due to the rising noise pollution?
The Society for Assistance of Hearing Impaired Children (SAHIC) conducted a year-long survey at 21 spots to find out the impact of noise pollution on the residents of Dhaka city. The survey result showed that hearing ability of 76.9 per cent of the surveyed people was damaged by continuous noise pollution. A private university and a non-governmental organisation jointly surveyed 20 spots in Dhaka city recently that included residential areas and ones with academic institutions and hospitals where the least noises are desirable. In these areas, sound levels should be within 45 decibels but the survey found an average sound level of 75 decibels near Oxford International School in Dhanmondi, 86 decibels near Birdem hospital and 76 decibels near Viqarunnessa Noon school and college. In the residential area at Kallyanpur, the survey found the average sound level at 80 decibels. The average sound level in other residential areas is close to this level or even surpasses it in some cases.
Noise pollution not only leads to gradual hearing loss. It also creates other medical conditions such as high blood pressure, palpitation, loss of concentration, headache, irritability, insomnia and other forms of physical and mental sicknesses. Thus, it is high time to enact the proposed noise pollution control law and implement it at the fastest. Noise pollution occurs not only on roads from car honking but also from indiscriminate use of loudspeakers by vendors and others and industrial activities in residential areas. All of these sources of noise pollution must also be well regulated through a comprehensive legislation.
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