DHAKA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A High Court division bench in Bangladesh has given the government 48 hours to stop the use of hydraulic horns in vehicles.
The High Court division bench of Justice Quzi-Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Mohammad Ullah on Wednesday passed the order, asking relevant government authorities to seize all the vehicles with the horn after Aug. 27.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by a local rights organization, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh
The organization filed the public interest litigation challenging the legality of hydraulic horn use and seeking necessary orders to stop sound pollution especially in capital Dhaka which has become one of the most hazardous cities in the country, with noise pollution going beyond acceptable limits.
Level of sound pollution in Dhaka is now reportedly a major concern for the general people because it has already exceeded the tolerance level.
A survey report prepared by the country's Department of Environment (DoE) showed the decibel level in some Dhaka areas has exceeded the permissible limits of 45-60 to 130 decibel.
The survey, conducted between April-June last year by the DoE-appointed consultants from an NGO, Working for Better Bangladesh (WBB), also found the situation deteriorating not only in Dhaka, but also in Bangladesh's second largest seaport city Chittagong, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka.
Because of sound pollution millions of people specially in Dhaka are now exposed to a number of health risks - from deafness to heart attack.
On Dhaka streets, noise pollution are seemingly created by hydraulic horns of buses, trucks and taxis, microphones and cassette players.
In a bid to curb noise pollution, police in Dhaka last week destroyed around 10,000 illegal hydraulic horns which they seized over the last couple of months.
