Noisy capital
Hordes of motorized vehicles, including over 3.5 lakh private cars now 'try' to ply on the pot-holed 7% of space that is road-worthy in Dhaka. Result: horrible jams tie up traffic for miles and hours, forcing the VIP passengers to bite their nails and berate their drivers for not taking another route. What naivety!! The drivers, in turn, vent their frustration by incessantly blowing their horns.
The decibel range of these raucous horns range from gentle (a few) to the most strident (maximum) that technology can devise and it seems these have been specially made for Bangladesh because they believe our drivers are convinced that the louder and more prolonged the noise, the quicker the jam in front will dissipate. So, what effect does all this ear-piercing and constant noise have on the 95%+ humble Dhakabashis who ride on rickshaws (50%), use buses (30%) or those forced to walk on footpath-less roads? 1) The traffic constables on the roads have become thick-skinned because they are already semi-deaf; 2) The Ministry of Environment (MoE) continues to slumber, while 3) The ENT specialists continue to make hay from the unearthly din all around and 4) Cardiologists warn that noise pollution is a major cause of heart disease. But in their sound-proof VIP cocoons, the car-owners remain unconcerned for the welfare of others. Recently, the pesky motorcycles and CNGs also joined the fray by installing horns whose decibel levels are out of all proportion to their size.
So, inured to the callousness of the traffic authorities, constantly dreaming of multi-crore projects, will it be any use making the following suggestions to control noise pollution? 1) Test the horns at the yearly inspection and yank it out, if over the decibel limit of 40. Fine them, minimum Tk.5, 000/- 2) Do the same at the time of clearance from ports. (better still ban cars altogether for 5 years as we already have too many!), 3) Random and frequent checks by MoE on the roads. Fine both the owner and driver, make them listen to their horns for 15 minutes in a confined room, then pull out the horn. Double the fines for second offences and suspend driving licenses and the blue book for one year for the third. Also the BRTA official who cleared the car should be charge-sheeted. Both noise and air pollution can be controlled simultaneously if there is some commitment from the authorities.
But wait what is that NOISE? It must be me, wailing in the wilderness!!
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