The welcome signboard was posted at the entrance of Laxmikunda Union in Ishwardi, Pabna. Next to it is a brickyard. There is a pile of wood. Besides a sawmill with equipment. Locals are disappointed with such acts of environmental destruction at the entrance of the union. Repeated complaints to the administration are not getting any remedy.
52 brick kilns have been built over a distance of about six kilometers from Nabinagar to Char Kuruliya in Laxmikunda Union. Cultivated land near the river. Homestead nearby. As per the Brick Making and Kiln Installation (Regulation) Act 2013, there is no scope for brick kilns to be set up at the place. Even so, bricks have been made in these kilns for several years.
Complaints have been made that for these low tides, the soil of the riverside pastures and croplands is being extensively cut. Roads have been constructed by damming rivers to transport soil. Trucks and tractors are running on that road. During transportation, the soil from these vehicles is ruining the road. During the dry season, the surroundings become dusty. Nature and the environment are endangered. Sometimes Pabna district administration, environment department, and upazila administration conduct raids. But the locals called it a show of people.
A few villages of the Laxmikunda Union were visited and it was found that coal is not used in illegal brick kilns. The soil required for brickmaking is being supplied from nearby privately owned croplands and the banks of the Padma. Small and large trees have been cut and piled to burn the soil. Small and large trucks, tractors, and engined vehicles ply on Union roads for transporting soil and ready-made bricks. Due to these vehicles, almost all the roads in Laxmikunda are broken. The Water Development Board has paved the main road of Mujib Dam at a cost of several crores of taka, but within a year it has collapsed and become impassable.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Subir Kumar Dash said that several brick kilns have been closed by conducting raids. Some owners have also been fined. Action will be taken as per law to phase out all illegal kilns.
ARS
