SILENT zones, or no-horn zones, in the capital of Dhaka have almost never been silent. They are, in fact, noisier than other areas where noise is usually high mostly because of a large number of vehicles honking horns. The interim government, after its installation on August 8, 2024 after the fall of the Awami League鈥檚 regime amidst the July uprising, declared the Dhaka airport area a 鈥榥o-horn zone鈥� and a stretch of three kilometres, spanning from Le M茅ridien Dhaka hotel to the campus of the Scholastica School at Uttara a 鈥榮ilent zone.鈥� The adviser to the interim government on the environment, forests and climate change and the water resources ministry then said that the violation of the rule would entail a penalty of Tk 500. Yet, little has changed in the area as drivers keep honking horns in the absence of oversight and enforcement. The same is the situation in the area surrounding the secretariat, which was declared a no-horn zone in December 2019. The Shahbagh area, which houses two important hospitals, Bangladesh Medical University hospital and BIRDEM General Hospital, has been no different in the honking of horns by vehicle drivers.
The Sound Pollution (Control) Rules 2006 consequent on the Environment Conservation Act 1995 lays out that hospitals, educational institutions and office areas are silent zones and prohibits the honking of horns within a radius of 100 metres of such establishments. The rule also prohibits the honking of horns in silent zones declared by local government authorities. But a survey conducted by the Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies in 2022 found that the so-called silent zones were noisier than other areas in the capital. The High Court in 2017 imposed a ban on the use of hydraulic horns in motor vehicles, but its violation continues apace. The environment department director, who is reported to have said that the offence of unlawful honking is punishable with fines, which almost everyone knows, has said the law requires the presence of a magistrate to identify such violation and penalise the violators and this is not always possible everywhere. But, he has said that since 2010, they have conducted awareness campaigns under two projects and trained several thousand drivers. Whilst awareness campaigns hardly work, as has been seen in many other cases, the training of several thousand drivers is inadequate. All this suggests that the authorities should work out effective ways to ensure that silent zones are, in effect, silent.
High noise has detrimental health effects. The government should, therefore, work out ways to effectively ensure silence in silent zones. And, oversight and enforcement, preferably with deterrent punishment, have no alternatives to the silence that the silent zones demand of the authorities.
