Nearly Tk 20 crore fines were imposed and 462 brick kilns were shut down in the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change’s nationwide anti-pollution drives.
The nationwide initiative was aimed at tackling pollution through mobile court drives, which were carried out by the Department of Environment from January 2 to March 9, according to a press release on Monday.
14 illegal brick kilns demolished in Savar, Ashulia, and Dhamrai
A total of 598 mobile court operations were conducted during this period, it said.
The drives focused on addressing a range of pollution-related issues, including excessive black smoke from vehicles, illegal polluting brick kilns, steel mills, noise pollution, hazardous waste disposal, lead/battery recycling factories, wetland encroachment, tire pyrolysis plants, charcoal factories, and air pollution caused by construction materials left in open spaces.
Throughout these operations, 1,363 cases were filed, resulting in fines amounting to Tk 19.79 crore. As part of the crackdown on illegal brick kilns, 305 brick kiln chimneys were demolished, leading to the complete shutdown of these operations. Orders were issued for the closure of 157 additional brick kilns, while 60 kilns had their raw bricks destroyed. In another significant move, six trucks containing lead/battery smelting equipment were seized from five factories, which were subsequently shut down, the release said.
Four mobile court drives were conducted in various areas of Dhaka, including Hatirjheel, Moghbazar, Adabor, Aftabnagar, Badda, and Dhanmondi, under the Air Pollution Control Rules 2022 on Sunday. These drives resulted in 11 cases and fines amounting to Tk 60,000. Business owners were issued warnings, and an immediate removal of construction materials was ordered.
In the same vein, a mobile court drive was conducted in Narayanganj against a ready-mix factory under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2021. Three cases were filed, and a fine of Tk 50,000 was collected.
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Moreover, 20 additional mobile court drives took place across several districts, including Panchagarh, Kurigram, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Jhenaidah, Bhola, Sirajganj, Meherpur, Moulvibazar, Pirojpur, Gaibandha, Shariatpur, Barguna, Thakurgaon, Bogura, and Sherpur. These drives resulted in 19 cases and fines totaling Tk 13.2 lakh. The operations led to the shutdown of 22 brick kilns, including their demolition and the extinguishing of fires, while three more kilns were ordered to close, added the release.
DoE said these efforts would continue in the future, as part of the ongoing campaign to combat pollution across the country.