Experts' recommendations on remedies for sound pollution
The country's leading online news portal Jagonews24.com has organized a roundtable titled 'Sound pollution's adverse impact and remedies'.
Experts talked about noise pollution's different aspects and remedies for it in the program held in the portal's conference room in the capital of Dhaka on Saturday.
Jago News Acting Editor KM Ziaul Haque presided over the meeting while Deputy Editor Dr Harun Rashid moderated.
Md Munibur Rahman, the additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (traffic), said noise pollution has a negative impact on traffic police members as they spend day's one-third time on the road.
Mentioning that the traffic division sat with the Department of Environment several times for an instrument to measure sound pollution, he said, "If they (DoE) gives this device, traffic police with an association of magistrate can reduce noise pollution a bit by fining people."
Professor Dr Ahmed Kamruzzaman Mazumder, founder-director of the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), said the most sound came from vehicles and construction works.
He, also chairman of the Environmental Sciences department of Stamford University, said it will naturally come down if traffic jam is reduced and the parking system is arranged.
About the problem, Professor Dr Mamun Al Mahtab (Shwapnil), chief of the Interventional Hematology Division of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said it causes suffering to the sick people, especially those at CCU and ICU, at hospitals.
In this regard, Dr Mostafizur Rahman, associate professor of the Environmental Sciences Department of Jahangirnagar University, stressed making people aware of the negative effects of sound pollution.
He also gave suggestions to BRTA train a driver about sound pollution before providing him driving license. It is somewhat possible to reduce sound pollution.
Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Paribesh Bachao Andolan (PABA), emphasized the coordination of Dhaka's development organizations with law enforcement agencies.
BRTA can assign other organizations to know what are the reasons behind the sound pollution, he said, adding, "We have to think about our ecosystem."
Upholding its negative impact, Psychologist Nuzhat e Rahman said people are failed to keep their mood normal and behave well because of spending a long time in noise.
For a solution to the problem, she suggested finding out its root causes.
Md Shahidul Azam, the assistant director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), talked about the harm of hydraulic horns, saying that it is needed to ban it commercially.
"We occasionally conduct drives against the hydraulic horn and take legal action but after some days the drivers start using it again," he said.
He said people should uphold the problems on social media and authorities concerned ought to accelerate initiatives in association with different NGOs.
This kind of discussion will also help resolve sound pollution day by day, he added.
Mentioning sound pollution and air pollution as very important issues, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary-general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, said they came to learn through a report of Jago News about social damage caused by sound pollution.
Realizing the matter, the honorable High Court gives order but it is not being complied with, he added.
The recommendations the speakers made at the roundtable are as follows:
- To educate children about traffic and train drivers on playing the horn.
- To reduce traffic congestion as people play horn excessively for it.
- To raise awareness, and run campaigns about the adverse impact of sound pollution besides enforcing the law.
- To launch an ecosystem in the city plan
- To educate a driver about sound pollution before giving him a license
- To educate all the people about the negative impact of sound pollution.
- To build U-loop in different busy areas of the capital like in Rampura-Badda
TT/SU
