Down To Earth
Brick kilns: Belching out hazard into environment
ASM Nurunnabi
The Dhaka City and its suburbs reportedly have some 5000 brick fields most of which are fuelled by materials that have serious environmental fallout. Some of these brick fields use gas and furnace oil, which causes less adverse effects on the environment. But most other brick fields use wood, bamboo stumps and even old tyres to fire their kilns that burn round the clock spewing black, poisonous smoke, and their adverse effects on the environment is much more pronounced. The smoke spreads far and wide into the city and poses a potent threat to environment as well as public health. The city is already suffering from serious environmental impact of water, air and noise pollution. And these unregulated brick fields represent the last nail in the coffin as far as the city's environment is concerned.These ominous kilns are located in different areas of the city areas and its outskirts. We find them on both sides of the river Buriganga, particularly near Pagla, at Mirpur, Mohammadpur and a vast area extending beyond Gabtoli. Earth, the ingredient for brick, is brought into many of these kilns from faraway places while few brick fields use earth from designated sites. But this continuous removal of soil also wreaks its share of havoc on the environment. Lands that supply the soil become less suitable for agriculture. Particularly, on the other side of the Buriganga where the land is low-lying, the ongoing excavation results in further depression of the land level. To meet the relentless demand for soil, more and more brick fields are cropping up all over the place. Consequently, more and more land is coming under the assault of backhoes digging up enormous amounts of soil from it. Apart from affecting things like agriculture, this phenomenon bodes ill for any future plans for expansion of Dhaka City, which is an inevitability because of the ever-increasing city population due to births as well as migration of people from all over the country in search of work. As the soil level continues to go down, particularly on the other side of the river, the land becomes unfit for construction. Moreover, according to studies, the land gets parched even further away, and nothing grows on it. Trees become barren and die off. People within a five-kilometre radius are exposed to extremely high air pollution. Children are particularly vulnerable to the pollution generated by the kilns and develop respiratory problems. It is a sad aspect of our city planning that brick kilns using harmful materials are allowed to operate near city areas without let or hindrance and with impunity. It is imperative that the Department of Environment play an effective role in prohibiting such brick fields in and around the city. The sooner these are shifted to areas outside the city limits, the better it will be for public health and environment.
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