The Rahmatpur union in Barisal’s Babuganj upazila is home to 24 brick kilns, causing an immense amount of pollution in the air.
Local people complained of catching various airborne diseases including shortness of breath.
Moreover, the pollution has started to leave its effects on plants and soil in the area.
The information was disclosed by speakers at a day-long discussion on brickfields and the current environmental organized by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) in Barisal on Friday.
The meeting was chaired by HM Abul Kalam while Lincoln Bayen, the divisional coordinator of BELA delivered the welcome speech.
-The kilns are flouting government rules which makes it mandatory for them to build 12foot high chimneys, speakers said.
The brick kilns are also responsible of the degredation of soil in the area and steady decline of arable land, speakers said.
Moreover, trees are being felled to be used as fuel at the kilns– causing even more danger to the environment, the speakers added.
They said that those who protest the activities of these kilns are harrassed and opressed by the owners.
The speakers stressed the need for a social movement against these illegal kilns.
HM Abul Kalam, who presided over the meeting, said that brick play an important role in the overall development of acountry.
“However, it must be managed legally. We want a positive change in Rahmatpur which will stop the pollution,” he said.
