According to government rules, bricks are supposed to be burned in brick kilns with coal, but in violation of that rule, bricks are being burned freely with wood in the brick kilns of Bera Upazila, Pabna. The owners of brick kilns are not complying with the brick kiln construction law. Despite the ban of the administration, wood is being burnt continuously. The environment is being polluted by the black smoke emitted by the boiler. Various green trees including forest and medicinal plants are disappearing and cropland is disappearing.
Most of the women, children and old people are suffering from various diseases due to environmental pollution. Locals said that for a long time, wood was being burned freely in Jamuna Brick Kiln, but the administration remained silent for unknown reasons. Afzal Hossain of Pechakola village said that every day, wood is being brought to this kiln from different areas of the district by vehicles such as three wheeler, tractor driven by shallow engines. But we do not see any supervision of the administration to prevent it.
Another resident, Mujibar, said that it looks like a competition is going on to burn wood as fuel in brick kilns. We do not understand why this crime is not coming to the attention of the concerned administration.
Going to Bera upazila, it can be seen that wood is stacked in brick kilns. Salam, the owner of Jamuna brick kiln, could not be reached on his mobile several times to find out why wood is being burnt instead of coal in violation of government rules.
In this regard, Bara Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sabur Ali said, earlier, Jamuna Brick Kiln was fined by conducting a mobile court for burning wood. We have no information and I am not aware of re-burning of wood. Necessary measures will be taken after investigating the fact that wood is being burnt in the brick kiln.
