Noise pollution rules on cards
City Correspondent
After much deliberation, the Department of Environment (DoE) has at last sent the final draft of the proposed Noise Pollution (control) Rules 2004 to the Ministry of Environment and Forest on Saturday (September 25).The proposed rules were first sent to the ministry on September 24, 2003 followed by a second draft on January 24 this year. It was presented to the parliamentary standing committee on February 29. A fourth draft of the rules was sent to the environment ministry on April 13. The DoE wanted to prohibit use of hydraulic horns that same month after the ministry issued an order regarding noise pollution. According to the Noise Pollution (control) Rules 2004, vehicle owners were supposed to get a two-month deadline (May-June) to remove their hydraulic horns. But the plan was deferred as the DoE decided to seek opinion of the public before implementing the new rules. It sent the draft to different organisations and also had it published in newspapers and invited comments. It was also put on the DoE's website. The ministry received a fifth draft on July 13 before the DoE came up with the final draft. However, it did not undergo any substantial changes. When asked about the delay in finalising the last draft, one of the top officials of the DoE said there was no lack of effort on the department's part. However, changes in environment ministry might have held up the process, he thought. Apart from hydraulic horns, the proposed rules recommend banning continuous use of loud speakers and amplifiers for more than five hours. It also prohibits horns or amplifiers in silent zones near hospitals, educational institutions and courts. In such zones, noise measuring not more than 50 decibel (dB) during the day and 40 dB at night will be allowed. On the other hand, sound levels in residential areas have to be kept within 55 dB in daytime and 45 dB at night. Also, noisy construction machinery will be allowed to operate strictly between 7am to 7pm. Under the rules, violators have to pay a hefty fine of Tk 10,000 or spend six months behind the bars. An official of the DoE hoped that it should not take more than two months for the rules to be passed as the environment ministry is likely to send the draft immediately to the law ministry.
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