Noise pollution has gripped Dhaka city everywhere. It is there at homes as well as outside. One cannot sleep peacefully at home with auto-rickshaws and cars blaring their horns at midnight with drivers simply ignoring the fact that such unnecessary horns might disturb others. Main roads apart, not even streets and by-lanes are spared of this.
Even a silent congregation is not immune from noise due to exchange of personal words on issues not related to the meeting. Once noted economist Dr Abdus Sattar was seen flying into rage at a meeting and stood up to ask all participants to shut up. "It's not a marketplace," he roared.
Deafening noise of 'fiery' speeches at human chains in front of the National Press Cub daily makes one to bear its brunt. Even an ordinary pedestrian will be surprised over the level of noise there. It is still not understandable to whom the 'fiery' speeches there are directed as one can only see passing buses, minibuses, rickshaws and motorcycles in front. The passengers of these vehicles also cannot understand what the speakers at human chains say.
Specialists measure intensity of noise in decibel (dB) units. At 45 dB of noise an average person generally cannot sleep. At 120 dB, the ear registers pain; hearing damage begins at a much lower level, about 85 dB. Experts say, if a child below three years of age hears a horn emitting 100 dB of noise from a close range, he or she might lose his or her hearing power.
A child's health may also be adversely affected by loud sounds from radio, television, cassette players, microphones and noise from mills and factories.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says, generally 60 dB sound can make a man deaf temporarily and 100 dB sound can cause complete deafness.
Now the noise of any busy street in Dhaka has been estimated at 60 to 80 dB, with the sound of vehicles being 95 dB, loud speakers 90 to 100 dB, mills and factories 80 to 90 dB, restaurants and cinema halls 75 to 90 dB, festivals 85 to 90 dB, scooter or motorbike 87 to 92 dB and trucks and buses 92 to 94 dB.
A drive conducted by the Department of Environment found 146 out of 164 points in Dhaka city having sound levels exceeding tolerable limits.
Are we aware of what noise could do to human health? It seems the answer will be in the negative. That is exactly why none these days cares to keep silent, to do things silently as far as possible and avoid things that create noise.
According to Prof Pran Gopal Dutta, vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, unpleasant sounds turn to noise, leading to non-auditory effects like headaches, nausea, insomnia, anxiety and stress.
Preventing noise pollution requires monitoring of noise levels, creating awareness on the precautionary measures and keeping records of measurements of noise level exposure, he added.
Experts find noise pollution in Dhaka city increasingly posing a serious hazard to urban population's health and can only be curbed through awareness programmes among the masses. The issue still remains as the least addressed and proper execution of relevant laws is indispensable in this regard.
Despite law, there are some problems in its execution and the media has a vital role to play in creating awareness about the issue.
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