Sunder Jiban, a social welfare organisation that conducted the survey, selected this fact as the main topic of a discussion organised in collaboration with Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (VNSC) Environment Club at the VNSC auditorium on April 10.

The surroundings of institutions like Shaheen School, Motijheel Government School, Dhanmondi Government High School and Azimpur College were reported to have experienced 74, 79, 75 and 78 decibels, up from 45 decibels suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The highlight of the discussion with VNSC students was how to keep their premises and surroundings free of noise pollution. VNSC Principal Roena Hossian, attending the discussion as chief guest, requested her students to build awareness to keep their institution noise-free.

She asked them to motivate their drivers to refrain from unnecessarily honking horns in traffic jam. She hoped motivation would help cut noise pollution.

Volunteers were tasked with monitoring the conditions of the surroundings and making students aware that loud music in moving cars adds to noise pollution. Students agreed to comply with the conclusion, while enthusiastic others contributed ideas to combat the situation.

In his address, M Sirajul Islam, general secretary of Sunder Jiban, chairing the meeting, said that if the consequences of noise pollution could be calculated mathematically, the government and all concerned would definitely be active to stop the nuisance.

Amit Ranjan Dey, project officer of the Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB), made a presentation at the discussion, also joined by Sufia Khatun, coordinator of VNSC Environment Club, and Mohsin Talukder, senior teacher of VNSC.