30 brick kilns in one village

Photo: UNB
Photo: UNB

Despite government ban, 30 brick kilns have been built in one village, Bagbaria, in Magura sadar upazila causing a serious threat to human health and to the environment.
Cloaked in dust, the village is now known as ‘Brick Kiln Village’.

This UNB correspondent found a vehicle called ‘Dumping Car’ which is used for transporting soil, sand and brick. It has made the roads of the village unusable while the smoke from the brick kilns causes unspeakable harm to the environment.

On one hand, the amount of arable land is decreasing while people are falling victims to pollution on the other, said several residents of the village.

They said these illegal brick kilns have now become a threat to the Modhumati River as the owners have started occupying the river banks.

According to the district administration, Bagbaria village has the highest number of brick kilns, 30 kilns out of 90, in the district.

Incidentally, only 10 brick kilns in the district have the licences while the remaining ones are operating without any permission.

These illegal brick kilns are often fined by mobile courts conducted by the district administration. However, the raid has not been able to stop the operations of those brick kilns. Besides, the brick kilns use short chimneys instead of 120-foot ones made of concrete as per rules.

Some local residents who are associated with the brick fields told the UNB correspondent that 5 million bricks are made on average throughout the season in each of the brick kilns in the district.

For every 100,000 bricks, 80 to 100 tonnes of fuel are needed and therefore, around 500,000 tonnes of firewood is required for the 90 brick kilns, they said.

Photo: UNB
Photo: UNB

Jahidul Amin, deputy director of Magura Department of Agricultural Extension, said a decision has been made in this regard through a resolution at the district administrator’s office.

“No factory or brick kiln can be set up on land used to grow three crops. Every union parishad chairman and members have been notified about it,” he said.

“However, I’m not aware of any decision on setting up brick fields occupying rivers and using the soil of rivers for making bricks,” Amin added.

Magura sadar upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Abu Sufian said steps will be taken if brick fields are set up on land used to grow three crops based on complaints by the affected individuals. He, however, could not specify what action will be taken for river encroachment.

Prompt action will be taken against illegal bricks kilns, he said.