Over the past one year, anti-noise measures from declaring a 1.5 km-radius space around the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport a ‘silent zone’ to nationwide campaigns under the Integrated and Participatory Project to Control Noise Pollution, and fines against violators have largely failed to curb sound pollution.
Against this backdrop, the environment, forest and climate change ministry is set to finalise tomorrow the Sound Pollution (Control) Rules 2025, keeping provisions for two-year imprisonment for the production, import, and marketing of horns and mikes that produce noise beyond permissible limits.
The revised rules would also expand the coverage of the ‘silent zones’, ban unauthorised detonation of firecrackers, impose tighter restrictions on honking, public address and building construction in residential areas, and empower police to act against sound pollution.
To update the existing rules enacted in 2006, the ministry posted a draft of the new version on its website for feedback on July 14 this year.
According to ministry officials, opinions from 21 ministries and groups of experts have already been received while two inter-ministerial meetings have also been held in this regard.
Sidhartha Sankar Kundu, deputy secretary for environmental pollution control at the ministry, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·, ‘An inter-ministerial meeting is scheduled for Wednesday where the new rules will hopefully be finalised.’
Environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan in mid-December past year said that the government would finalise a new set of noise control rules within the month, according to a Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha report.
The draft rules introduce a new sub-clause defining noise sources like mikes, loudspeakers, amplifiers, generator sets, music systems, public address systems, all types of horns used in motorised vehicles as well as machines used in industrial units and construction sites.
In addition to the 100-metre radius around hospitals, educational institutions and offices mentioned in the 2006 rules, the draft rules also declare marine protected areas, reserved forests, bird and wildlife sanctuaries, ecologically critical areas, and protected tourist spots as ‘silent zones’.
The new draft rules add an additional schedule specifying permissible noise levels for horns used in motorised vehicles and vessels, 85–90 dB (A) for two, three, and four wheelers, and 100 dB (A) for heavy-duty vehicles and vessels.
The dB (A), or A-weighted decibel, is a sound measurement unit representing loudness as perceived by the human ear.
Like the 2006 rules, the draft rules maintain limits of 50 dB (A) during the day and 40 dB (A) at night in silent zones, 55 dB (A) by day and 45 dB (A) at night in residential areas, 70 dB (A) by day and 60 dB (A) at night in commercial areas, and 75 dB (A) by day and 70 dB (A) at night in industrial areas.
According to the draft rules, the commerce ministry and relevant authorities would be barred from permitting the import of horns exceeding the permissible limit.
Permission would be required to detonate firecrackers or to use loudspeakers and music systems for special purposes. However, the rules strictly prohibit all of these activities after 9:00pm.
The draft rules also make it mandatory for constructors of overpasses, flyovers, elevated expressways, and rail tracks to fence off sites within silent zones with ‘noise barrier’ measures.
Under the new rules, anyone producing, importing, or marketing horns that exceed the noise limit would face two-year imprisonment and a Tk two lakh fine, or both.
Besides, one-month imprisonment and a Tk 50,000 fine, or both, would apply for using excessive noise-generating devices at public addresses, cultural and social events, picnics, construction sites, and industries.
Professor Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder of the Department of Environmental Science at Stamford University Bangladesh, who provided expert feedback on the draft rules, expressed his concerns about the implementation of the new rules.
He noted that while the rules would allow the import of 100 dB (A) horns, they would also ban their use in silent, residential or mixed areas.
‘Who will monitor such violations in so many silent and residential areas? Since our surveillance capacity is weak, doubts remain about how effectively this new rules can be implemented,’ Kamruzzaman observed.