From hawkers’ hand mics to doctors’ chambers: DoE identifies four new sources of noise pollution
Photo: Collected
Entertainment activities, commercial activities, the hand mics of beggars and hawkers, and announcements at doctors’ chambers – the Department of Environment (DoE) has identified these four new sources of noise pollution. Excessive or unwanted noise produced by these sources can be harmful to human health and the environment.
Farid Ahmed, director of the DoE’s Dhaka Metropolitan office, told BSS that the sources emerged in the department’s latest survey.
The DoE conducted the survey, titled ‘Measurement of sound levels’, in 64 district towns of the country in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Its results were published recently.
The survey identified 25 main sources of noise pollution. These include vehicle movement, hydraulic and ordinary horns, traffic congestion, miking, religious events, celebrations of various days and the use of DJ sound boxes, VIP vehicle horns, sirens of ambulances, fire service and police vehicles, social, political, cultural, government and private events, hooters, construction work, electrically powered machinery and industrial activities.
Other notable sources of noise pollution that came up include household appliances, motorcycles, overtaking by vehicles, excessive autorickshaws, nosimon and korimon, train horns, tourist vehicles and bikes, narrow roads, ships, aircraft, excessive vehicles at bus terminals, communication devices such as mobile phones, televisions and radios, and infrastructure development work.
The survey says the maximum sound level has increased at important traffic junctions in areas where residential and commercial activities are mixed.
In Dhaka, noise pollution is significantly higher at Shaheed Faruk Golchattar in Jatrabari, Shankar, Dhanmondi and Shyamoli intersections. Round-the-clock noise pollution has also increased in commercial and traffic-heavy areas such as English Road, Nawabpur, Sayedabad, Gulistan and Shantinagar.
Among the 64 district towns, the highest sound level was recorded at Shaheed Faruk Golchattar in Jatrabari, Dhaka – 129.4 decibels (dB).
The DoE has declared the Bangladesh Secretariat and its surroundings, Agargaon, and the areas around the Jatiya Sangsad and the Prime Minister’s Office as silent zones. And the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) declared Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Niketan silent zones in September 2025.
However, a study has found that noise in at least four silent zones of the capital is far above the set limit.
In March 2022, a team from the Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) of Stamford University Bangladesh measured noise in four silent zones around the Secretariat, Agargaon, the Jatiya Sangsad and the Prime Minister’s Office. The average sound level there was found to be 97.63 decibels, nearly double the permitted 50 decibels.
In the Secretariat area, the average sound level was 100.17 decibels, with a maximum of 127 decibels. In the Jatiya Sangsad area, the average was 99.35 decibels. Of the four, noise was relatively lower in Agargaon, at an average of 78.11 decibels.
The permitted levels set by the DoE are: 50 decibels by day and 40 by night in silent zones, 55 by day and 45 by night in residential areas, 60 by day and 50 by night in mixed areas (residential, commercial and industrial), 70 by day and 60 by night in commercial areas, and 75 by day and 70 by night in industrial areas.
During the survey, stakeholders concerned made several recommendations to control noise pollution. One of them is to launch a hotline so that cases can easily be filed against polluters through the service.
Recommendations also came to set, under government law, sound levels and time limits for sound use at social, cultural, political and religious events, to reduce the movement of slow-moving vehicles to cut noise pollution, and to build service roads beside highways.
Stakeholders also called for stopping the import and marketing of illegal hydraulic horns, limiting the movement of outdated vehicles, relocating industrial zones out of cities, fixing maximum sound levels for all types of vehicles, limiting the use of loudspeakers, and properly monitoring and enforcing the law to control noise pollution.
Background
According to a Prothom Alo report of 27 March 2022, Dhaka was named the world’s top city for noise pollution in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ‘Frontiers 2022’ report; Rajshahi was fourth on the list.
A report by The Daily Star Bangla on 31 August 2026 says that under the Noise Pollution (Control) Rules 2006, only magistrates had the power to impose fines; the DoE declared a three-kilometre area around Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport a silent zone in December last year.
By the numbers
According to UNEP’s 2022 estimate, the sound level was 119 decibels in Dhaka and 103 decibels in Rajshahi, Prothom Alo reported at the time.
The Daily Star Bangla reported in August 2026 that, under World Health Organization standards, road noise should stay below about 53 decibels by day and 45 decibels at night.
Sources
Background sources: Prothom Alo, 27 March 2022; The Daily Star Bangla, 31 August 2026
