Despite numerous High Court directives and demands from environmental activists over the years to remove illegal brick kilns, the environment continues to be at risk at the expense of quality of life. The photo published by New Age Tuesday shows a stretch along the River Dhaleshwari at Keraniganj, Dhaka. Brick kilns line the banks and continue to pollute the area. This photograph shows the apparent inaction and lack of concern by the government regarding brick kilns. The High Court ordered the environment department and the deputy commissioners of Gazipur, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Dhaka to demolish 319 illegal brick-kilns within 15 days. This was the latest court intervention. The order was issued on a supplementary petition submitted by an environmental organisation in January 2021 which, in turn, was filed to bring the court’s attention to the inaction of government agencies in implementing the nine-point directive that the High Court issued in January 2020 to stop air pollution.
On January 13, 2020, the High Court issued directives to curb air pollution in Dhaka. They also directed that brick kilns be closed within two months. The directive requested the government to ban all vehicles that emit black smoke and to define vehicle life spans. It also requested that vehicles that had reached their expiration date be retired. It has been over two years since the directives were first issued. The directives have not been implemented by the government or the authorities. This failure to follow court directives is not new. On February 1, the High Court ordered the government to submit a complete listing of illegal brick kilns within Dhaka and four adjacent districts. The High Court ordered Rangamati, Khagrachari, and Bandarban’s deputy commissioners to close down brick kilns operating illegally or without proper licensing. The court issued the directive in response to a public-interest litigation writ petition by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh. This petition claimed that some businesses were cutting down trees and cutting hills in order to run illegally licensed brick kilns. In all instances, the authorities did not take any visible action or complied only halfheartedly with the directives. The situation seems to have reached such a point that the High Court continues intervening and issuing directives periodically to stop illegal brick-kiln operations. The government and relevant agencies are still failing to comply with these directives.
The constitution states that the government has the responsibility to protect, preserve and maintain the environment. The government must devise a strategy that addresses both the illegal brick kilns issue and the subsequent environmental hazards.
