Hundreds of local people in the district has held a mass rally on the field of a local primary school protesting the initiative of setting up a carbon factory there.
The factory supposed to be set up at Aila village in Karimganj upazila of the district and a local organisation named “Poribesh Protibesh Samajik Andolon” called the programme in protest of the move.
Defying the incessant rain the protesters joined the rally held on the Aila Government Primary School premise yesterday.
Sources said the protesters started taking position on the premise around 11am through holding placards read the slogans against the carbon factory. Later, they paraded the thoroughfares before holding the rally there.
A local farmer named Abdul Aziz who presided over the rally urged upon the authorities concerned to abandon the environmentally harmful project inside the farm lands.
He threatened of adopting greater movement unless the process of setting up the factory see the end within one week.
The organisation’s organiser and popular folk singer Kabi Kafil Ahmed also addressed the programme echoing the voice of Abdul Aziz. Besides, local municipality councillor Osman Gani spoke there among others.
The speakers claimed that carbon is a harmful element that would harm their farm lands vastly in line with the health of the workers of the factory as well as the villagers.
Ignoring the heath hazard some unscrupulous and money-monger businessmen have taken the decision of establishing the factory in the populous area, they alleged.
When contacted, the factory owner Md Shafique denied the concerns raised by the protesters and said: “Considering the employment of the locals I have bought a 28-decimal land to set up the carbon factory and its boundary wall has already been erected.”
“The smoke of the factory could be controlled by highly sophisticated equipment easily and that is why it will not have any bad impact on the villagers’ health as well as on the environment,” Shafique claimed.
It was learnt that the works of the factory named JC Charkole Industries has started in the village to produce carbon powder and the local farmers started protesting it apprehending the ecological disaster and health hazard there.
