Jubo League leader’s coal kiln threatens environment, health

By government order, coal kiln cannot be set up in the Barisal region. However, a coal kiln has been set up in blatant disregard of government regulations.

It has been constructed on a one-and-a-half acre government waqf estate plot worth a few crore taka. After Prothom Alo reported on this last year, the coal kiln stopped work for 15 days, but now has resumed work in full swing. In fact, it has been expanded further.

This is having a dangerous impact on the environment, trees are being felled indiscriminately and public health is at risk.

The owner of the coal kiln is Mizanur Rahman aka Mizan Molla (35), organising secretary of Kalaiya union Jubo League in Baufal upazila, Patukhali.

He set up this coal kiln on one acre 57 decimals of land worth Tk 7 crore 85 lacs which he occupied two years ago on the government’s Abdul Huq Waqf Estate, in the Kalaiya port area.

Massive amounts of timber are being burnt to produce coal at this kiln. Trees are being wiped out and the smoke emitting from the kiln is polluting the environment. The health of thousands of men, women and children in the area is at risk. Repeated complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

According to the rule, brick kilns cannot be set up on arable land and in well-populated areas. And the government regulations have completely ruled out coal kilns in the Barisal region.

The Barisal divisional director of the environment department Mohammed Nazrul Islam told Prothom Alo, “It is absolutely illegal to burn trees for commercial production of coal. This is a dire threat to the environment. Steps will very soon be taken against them.”

The kiln owner and Jubo League leader Mizan Molla said that he leased the land from a certain Shahzada Miah, one of the trustees of the estate.

As to whether he had permission for a coal kiln, he told Prothom Alo, “There is no permission, but I have submitted an application for permission.” He claimed that the environment was not being harmed.

Sources in the waqf administration office said that the estate had no trustee by the name of Shahzada Miah. Mohammed Jahangir Hossain Miah and Solaiman Miah were the present trustees. The administration had not given any permission to lease the land out either. Permission would also be required from the forest ministry and the environment department.

Trustee Mohammed Jahangir Hossain Miah told Prothom Alo, the land has not been leased to anyone. Mizan Mollah had demolished their shops there and forcefully occupied the land.

An official of the upazila forest department Mohammed Ruhul Amin told Prothom Alo, “The department has not given any person to burn wood.”

UNO Mohammed Abdullah Al Mahmud Zaman told Prothom Alo, “I was not at my workplace when the complaints were lodged. Action will definitely be taken.”

Six stoves have been set up in the kiln to burn wood, each stove burning 300 maunds at a time. Each stove yields about 70 maunds of coal after burning for 12 hours. Every month about 54 thousand maunds of wood s burned. This yields about 2000 tonnes of coal. Thousands of maunds of tree are but down every day for this kiln.

Certain local teachers, on condition of anonymity, have said, the forest of the area will soon disappear. The environment is at risk. The cropland will be damaged. They demanded that the coal kiln be removed and the occupiers be evicted from the land.