Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday directed the authorities concerned to intensify efforts to curb air and noise pollution, stressing the need for tougher enforcement against polluting vehicles, brick kilns and excessive use of vehicle horns.

He gave the directives while chairing a meeting on environmental pollution at the Prime Minister's Office.

The meeting discussed a range of measures to reduce air and noise pollution across the country, with particular focus on improving environmental condition in the capital, said a press release issued by the PM’s Press Wing.

The Prime Minister instructed the authorities to take effective steps to curb air pollution caused by brick kilns and emphasised the use of environmentally friendly technologies in brick production.

The meeting also reviewed ways to control the excessive use of vehicle horns in Dhaka.

Tarique Rahman directed law enforcement agencies to strengthen enforcement to reduce unnecessary honking and discussed the possibility of using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor and control horn use, similar to the AI-based traffic camera system already being introduced for traffic management.

He also laid emphasis on the swift removal of unfit, expired and highly polluting buses, trucks and other vehicles from the streets of the capital.

The Prime Minister an instructed the authorities to install automatic traffic light systems at least 50 more locations in Dhaka as quickly as possible to improve traffic management and reduce congestion.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo, State Minister Sheikh Faridul Islam, State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Saimum Parvez, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Md Abdus Salam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Md Shafiqul Islam Khan, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, Additional Commissioner (Traffic) Md Anisur Rahman and senior officials from different ministries and agencies attended the meeting.