With the brick-making season under way, hundreds of illegal kilns have restarted across southern Bangladesh. An investigation by Samakal found at least 500 illegal kilns in Barishal division, many of them on river chars and in remote areas, with more than a hundred in Mehendiganj and Hizla upazilas of Barishal alone.
They run on banned drum chimneys and 120-foot fixed chimneys close to homes and schools, and most burn forest wood instead of coal. Built on riverbanks and farmland, they expose local people to toxic smoke.
Some kiln owners openly say they "manage" the Department of Environment, Samakal reports. Anisur Rahman, who opened a drum-chimney kiln called Three Star at a new site in Jangalia, Mehendiganj, after river erosion, admitted as much. Farid Bepari, who has run Lamia Bricks in Memania, Hizla, since 2013, said managing the office costs less than the harassment and expense of getting legal papers.
Denying the allegations, the Department of Environment's divisional director Md Mujahidul Islam said its own count is just over 200 illegal kilns. The department's only magistrate post in Barishal has been vacant since the previous magistrate was transferred in April, and without a magistrate from the district administration on time, regular drives at the start of the season are hard to run.
An executive magistrate from Dhaka, Sadia Akter, recently led drives in Babuganj, Wazirpur and Muladi that demolished seven illegal kilns. Assistant director Kazi Saifuddin of the district office said more drives will follow once a magistrate is available.
The Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) in Barishal and Lincoln Bayen, divisional coordinator of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said a shortage of magistrates or staff is no excuse, and that letting illegal kilns run near homes in return for bribes puts the region's farmland and public health at serious risk. They want every illegal kiln closed quickly.
Photo: Frameofashik / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Samakal
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