Croplands pushed toward ruin

In the last few years, 31 illegal brick kilns have been built within just 1.5 kilometres on both sides of Dhuliakhal-Mirpur regional road in Habiganj. Of them, only 15 are authorised, according to local union parishad chairman Saifuddin.

The same picture can be seen in other places in the district, including Habiganj Sadar, Bahubal, Shayestaganj, Chunarughat and Madhabpur upazilas. Government records suggest that there are 101 brickfields in the district, most of which are unauthorised.

These illegal kilns emit smoke, ashes and heat waves that adversely affect crops and the environment. Besides, the ashes gather on the surface of croplands, affecting soil fertility, said locals.

Moreover, the brickfield traders are digging up surface soil of croplands and using it to produce bricks. The area of croplands is shrinking because of the digging, they alleged.

Tamiz Uddin Khan, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Habiganj, told this correspondent that 10 hectares of arable lands in the district are being destroyed every year due to these brick kilns.

Brickfields have been set up on 111.29 hectares of land, he added.

According to Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) Act, brick kilns cannot be established in areas declared as a municipality, city corporation, reserve forest, or sanctuary.

The act also states that such establishments must be a kilometre away from city corporations and municipalities, and two kilometres away from reserve forests.

During a recent visit to Habiganj, this correspondent saw a layer of dust and smoke covering the town as soon as entering Vaidya Bazar area on the Dhuliakhal-Mirpur road.

Jasim Uddin, a farmer from Sughar village, said he was forced to sell his one bigha land recently as it became uncultivable due to the adverse effects of the brickfields.

Another local farmer Sajed Mia said brick traders bought land and built brickfields in their area due to low land prices.

Several brickfields, including Asia, Royal, New Metro, TTN, Palash, Mamun, Modern, New Sujat, and Five Star, have been built within a kilometre of Mirpur and Abdullahpur areas of Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Bahubal upazila.

The chimneys, too, are sub-standard, many of which do not meet the 120 feet height requirement. The brick kilns do not even renew their approval regularly, said sources.

The authorities conduct occasional raids and shut down some of the illegal fields at times, but they get reopened after a few days following lobbying by local influentials.

Rubel Mia, owner of Asia Brick, said building brickfields on agricultural land is the most convenient way of doing business.

However, he admitted that he was breaching the rules while doing so.

Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the District Environment office in Habiganj, told this correspondent that no brick kilns are allowed on agricultural land.

"Brickfields can only be established on nonarable land outside residential areas. It also requires clearance from the Department of Agriculture," he added.

Tofazzal Sohel, Habiganj district general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said, "There are no rules for setting up brickfields on agricultural land. But we do not see any application of this law in Habiganj. How does the Department of Agricultural Extension and the Department of Environment issue brick kiln clearance on agricultural land?"

Deputy Commissioner of Habiganj Ishrat Jahan, Habiganj deputy commissioner, said mobile courts are always active under her jurisdiction for surveilling the brickfields.

She said action would be taken following investigation if the approval process was manipulated for building brick kilns on crop fields.