As if rules don’t apply to him

The newly-elected Chattogram zilla parishad chairman has set up a brick-making factory right beside a protected forest in the district's Fatikchhari upazila. The factory is operating without any clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE).

Chairman ATM Pearul Islam, also vice president of Awami League's Chattogram north district unit, started building the factory in the upazila's Shubonchari area in 2013. The establishment started operation in 2019.

According to the Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) (Amendment) Act 2019, brick-making factories cannot be within 2km of any forest, and such establishments cannot operate without obtaining licences and environment clearance certificates from the DoE. Before this act was passed, the restriction was within 1km.

But this correspondent recently visited the area and saw the brick factory within about 200 metres of the protected forest and the surrounding hills.

Locals, seeking anonymity, said hills were chopped to establish the factory. The establishment has been polluting the neighbourhood by burning coal.

This correspondent also found that a hill near the factory is being cut, and the soil is being used to make bricks.

Mofidul Alam, director of the DoE's Chattogram region, told The Daily Star that earlier, the factory obtained environmental clearance through fraudulent means. "DoE revoked that clearance, issued in 2017. The factory has been operating without clearance for years, which is completely illegal."

He claimed that according to the new act, this factory cannot get a permit; it is situated right by the forest. "We will take legal action against the factory soon."

Pearul Islam, however, claimed that he has environment clearance certificates to run the factory. "We started production with clearance from the DoE. But that has expired, so we have already applied for a renewal,"

When asked why the factory is near the forest, he dodged the question.

On August 14, Ferdous Anwar, deputy director of the DoE's Chattogram office, submitted a report to the DoE on a field investigation centring the factory.

This correspondent obtained a copy of the report.

According to the report, the establishment is surrounded by the forest and hills. Therefore, its environmental certificate cannot be approved.

To start a brick factory, one has to take permission from the DoE and Forest Department.

Asked why authorities gave permission to establish the factory near the forest, Mozammel Hoque Shah Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of Chattogram North Forest Division, said, "My former colleagues had given the approval, so I don't know anything about it. I will look into the matter."

Growth of the forest's trees is being hindered by hazardous gases and particles that are emitted from the factory; these substances include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, said Mohammad Kamal Hossain, former professor of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science at Chittagong University.

On top of harming the area's biodiversity, these toxic substances negatively affect residents' health.

Mentionable, on November 14, the High Court bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Md Shohrowardi asked deputy commissioners of all districts to issue notifications to ban the operation of all illegal brick kilns.

According to the latest information from DoE Chattogram, there are 408 brick kilns in the district. Of them, 310 have expired environmental clearances or no approval.