Brick kiln fined for air pollution
The Department of Environment yesterday stopped the operation of a brick kiln at Baliarpur of Savar and fined its owner Tk 2 lakh for polluting air and changing the character of agricultural land and flood plain.
An enforcement team of DoE led by its Director Mohammad Munir Chowdhury also arrested the manager of M/s Anan Bricks, running without any environmental clearance, and knocked down its chimney, said a DoE release.
Locals complained the kiln polluted the environment emitting smoke and producing dust as it installed only a 54-foot high chimney beside the Dhaka-Aricha highway. Legally the smokestack must be at least 120-foot high.
The team seized 87,000 baked bricks, two water pumps and other equipment and disconnected an illegal electricity connection to the unit.
The kiln was set up close to a 11000 kilovolt electricity line, which the team considered to be very risky.
The DoE sent a notice to the kiln authorities last December to stop its illegal operation. But the owner did not pay heed to it, added the release.
Members of Rapid Action Battalion-2 and Fire Service and Civil Defence, Savar assisted the enforcement team.
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