Ignoring strong protests from local residents, a businessman is setting up a carbon powder factory in Karimganj of Kishoreganj without environmental clearance.
The factory named JC Charcoal Industries – the second of its kind in Bangladesh – is being set up at the Aila village. There is another smaller carbon powder factory in the Lalmonirhat district in Bangladesh’s north.
Protesters said such a factory in the middle of agricultural land will surely pose grave threat to its surroundings – the environment and the people.
Ershad Uddin, owner and managing director of the factory, is the president of Bangladesh Still Mills Resource Association and vice-president of an organisation named Kishoreganj Zila Bangabandhu Parishad (Kishoreganj district Bangabandhu council).
When contacted, Ershad said right now he does not have clearance from the environment department for setting up a carbon factory. “We have applied for the clearance certificate from the environment department,” he said.
He also claimed that his charcoal unit is not going to be harmful for the environment because he will install state-of-the-art machinery and equipment impo‡rted from China.
Asked what the technology would be, he said there will be “smoke reduction machines” to prevent carbon emission to the atmosphere.
“We only want to produce carbon powder from jute sticks and the final product will be sold to Chinese companies. They do different things with carbon powder but I do not know the details,” he said.
During a visit to the site, Dhaka Tribune’s Tafsilul Aziz found that the factory authorities have erected a brick boundary wall around the 28-decimal land, which was bought from some local farmers.
Ershad told the Dhaka Tribune: “In future, this factory will become a giant by creating jobs for thousands of villagers. So, they should not be frightened.”
However, local villagers and farmers are not convinced. Accompanied by environmental activists, they have been protesting the setting up of the factory for several days now.
Local farmer Abdul Aziz said: “Carbon is poisonous. It will destroy arable land and the environment. Our land will lose fertility and the factory, if built, will harm the villagers.”
Osman Goni, councelor of the local ward, said: “Agricutural land in Aila, Biddyanagar, Bahadurpur and Kiratan will be under threat if the factory is set up. Moreover, it will also bring health hazards to those who will work in the factory.”
On Saturday, hundreds of local people formed a human chain under banner of Poribesh-Protibesh Samajik Andolon (environment-ecology social movement) protesting the building of the carbon factory. They also gave a memorandum to the local authorities on July 23.
The movement will continue if the setting up of the carbon factory is not stopped, said folk singer Kafil Ahmed, one of the leading figures of the movement.
When contacted, environmental activist Md Abdul Matin, also general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said the world considers every type of coal as dirty fuel.
“Coal plants emit harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. The particles in these gases can cause severe environmental and health hazards,” he said.