One would be shocked coming to know that around 5,000 out of the total 9,700 brick kilns around the country have been running illegally for years. In spite of brick kilns being one of the prime contributors to air pollution, over 58 per cent to be more specific, it seems we have turned blind and deaf to this serious issue, with putting little notice to the degree of harm they are doing to our environment. One would hardly deny the fact that environmental issues do not appeal to us so much as politics or other issues do. But it should have been right the opposite. In fact, environmental issues earnestly deserve priority to be addressed in time, for we survive in the environment which, if polluted or disturbed by manmade activities, will surely turn hostile to the human existence on earth.
These kilns not only provoke people to mass cutting of trees and burning them but also pose a serious threat to topsoil of lands, where crops usually grow, causing a substantial reduction in agro-products and thus making farmers poorer. According to ecologists, the constant use of topsoil in kilns leads to a fertility deficit in arable lands. Eventually, the agricultural value of a land is lost. One would not be surprised to see that most kilns, in our country, have been constructed on agricultural lands, river banks and close to homesteads in defiance of government rules. Over 60 per cent kilns at present are blatantly violating environmental norms and creating serious ecological hazards due to non-compliance of standards. A High Court ruling is in place to protect our rivers, but it appears that nothing is working fine.
A large number of trees being felled and burnt in kilns also produces a huge amount of coal. Environmentalists say one kilogram coal releases at least four kilogram toxic materials, which ultimately means that very few other sources than these kilns are heavily harming the environment every day. It is conspicuous in the current quality of air in most of our cities and megacities. Dhakas air, for example, is often compared to that of the Indian capital, New Delhi, whose air is currently the most polluted in the world.
These illegal kilns must be stopped right now. We know no authority can offer a licence to a kiln without the clearance certificate obtained from the environment department of the country. But the high number of illegal kilns, currently in operation, suggests that this is merely written in papers and not translated into action. This fashion needs an immediate change, for the sake of the countrys environment, for the greater cause of our survival on earth.
