Published on 12:00 AM, January 04, 2017

Illegal brick kilns mushroom in Barisal

Two drum chimneys lie on the ground at Doarika in Babuganj upazila of Barisal after a mobile court of the Department of Environment knocked them down during an ongoing special drive against illegal brick kilns recently. Photo: Collected
Our Correspondent, Barisal

Around 121 brick kilns out of 310 are being operated illegally in Barisal division, according to the Department of Environment (DoE).

Of them, mobile courts of DoE from December 12 fined 16 illegally operating brick kilns Tk 13 lakh in all six districts of the division in special drives till Monday.

The penalised brick kilns include AS Bricks and KSB Bricks in Jhalakathi, and Padma Bricks and Balaka Bricks in Barisal.

Md Rashed Uzzaman, assistant director of DoE, Barisal division, told The Daily Star that the drive will continue till February.

The illegal brick kilns owners ignored several notices that asked them to take clearance certificates from the department after modernising their operating systems, said Rashed.

Most of the brick kilns are using drum chimneys instead of modern zig zag ones, the sources added.

Besides, many of them were installed around only three kilometers away from locality, roads and highways, and crop fields violating the DoE rules as they contribute to air pollution, decrease soil fertility and damage plantations, they said.

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