Mobile court demolishes illegal brick kiln in Savar

A team of Department of Environment (DoE) demolished one illegal brick kiln and detained its staff in a drive in Savar this morning. 

Led-by Md Maksudul Islam, executive magistrate, a team of DoE began the drive against illegal brick kiln in Namagenda area since morning, reports our Savar correspondent.

Name of the demolished illegal establishment is TB Brick Kiln.

"We are conducting drive against the illegal brick kilns which are posing threat to human health" said the magistrate.

The drive against illegal brick kilns in the area under Savar municipality will continue till 5:00pm, the correspondent reports quoting the magistrate.

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Dhaka gasping for fresh air

The DoE team was continuing their drive at another brick kiln KBS when this report was filed at 11:15am.

The High Court on Novermner 26 ordered the government to conduct mobile court drives to shut down the illegal brick kilns in five districts -- Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, and Manikganj -- within 15 days.

In response to a writ petition, the court directed the authorities to take necessary measures to remove dust and waste from streets, footpaths, and flyovers in the capital within seven days.

The order comes days after worrying data regarding the capital's air pollution was made public.

The authorities have also been asked to have water sprayed in dust-affected areas, walls, and trees in the city at least twice a day.

At the same time, the HC asked the government to form a high-powered committee, led by the environment secretary, within 15 days to formulate a guideline for reducing air pollution in and around the capital and to find out how the air is being polluted.

The capital had the worst air quality in the world on Monday, according to Air Visual, an air quality measuring application.

The alarming situation reportedly prompted the government to chalk out immediate measures to give city-dwellers some relief.

"The level of air pollution is alarming. Just a few days ago, air quality of Dhaka was the third or fourth worst in the world. But now it tops the ranking," said Shahab Uddin, minister for environment, forest and climate change, who presided over an emergency inter-ministerial meeting on On November 25.

Last year, Dhaka's air was ranked third most polluted in the world according to an air quality data compiled by the World Health Organisation for megacities with a population of 14 million or more.