“Stopping Horns Isn’t My Responsibility”: Rizwana

Staff Correspondent | April 19, 2025

“It is not within my responsibilities to stop vehicle horns,” remarked Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Advisor for Forest, Environment, and Climate Change.

She clarified that her duties include enforcing noise pollution control laws while emphasizing the need for behavioral change among people.

Rizwana Hasan said, “Everyone says to me, ‘Madam, the horns haven’t stopped.’ You’ve been honking for 53 years, your driver keeps honking, and then you blame me. Stopping horns is not my responsibility. My responsibility is to enforce the law. Behavioral change is essential.”

The advisor made these remarks at the “Green Energy Olympiad 2025” held at the Military Museum in Bijoy Sarani, Dhaka, on Saturday.

The “Noise Pollution Control Rules” were introduced in 2006 to regulate sound levels. Acceptable noise limits in Dhaka vary by area and time. Silent zones allow a maximum of 40 decibels at night and 50 during the day, while residential areas permit 45 decibels at night and 55 during the day. Mixed areas have a limit of 50 decibels at night and 60 during the day, commercial areas allow 60 and 70 decibels, and industrial zones permit 70 and 75 decibels, respectively.

Vehicles are expected to produce sound below 40 decibels, but Environmental Department inspections have revealed that horns in Dhaka exceed this limit.

On October 1 of last year, an area surrounding Shahjalal International Airport, stretching 1.5 kilometers north and south (from Scholastica School to Hotel Le Méridien), was designated as a silent zone under Rule 4 of the 2006 Noise Pollution Control Rules. In January, Rizwana announced plans to declare 10 additional roads as silent zones.