How far will the new brick making law go?

It is not just the 'obsessive' environmentalists but lately common people all over the country are also concerned about the unabated manner in which brick makers are expanding their domain. Slender chimneys releasing thick clouds of smoke are the most conspicuous signs to demonstrate that they are everywhere - across fallow lands, paddy fields, river banks, even forest belts.
Clearly, the trend is not a new one. Appearance of brick kilns irrespective of locations has been on the rise for decades, facilitated largely by the absence of any enforceable rules. This is not to say there was no law governing brick making. The Brick Burning (control) Act 1989 had its inadequacies to dictate terms in the first place, and besides, lacuna in the enforcement of some of the compliance issues made things worse. Resultantly, the practice of setting up brick plants at any location of choice went unopposed.
To part with the practice, the government has lately enacted a law on brick production, to be effective from July this year. The purpose is to check widespread environment pollution as well as save arable land and forest. The ministry of environment and forests sources have confirmed that the stipulations envisaged in the law will apply to all brick kilns in the country from July 1. On November 10 last year, Parliament passed a new bill on brick manufacturing. Later, following signing of the same by the President, the Brick Making and Brickfield Establishment (Control) Act 2013 became a law. The previous law, the Brick Burning (control) Act 1989 was amended twice in 1992 and 2001, before it was finally replaced by the new law with stricter measures. The new law has introduced tougher regulations for brick production, including provision of trial for offences under the penal code. Previously, offences were tried under the environment court.
According to the Department of Environment (DoE), there are about 6,356 brickfields in the country. However, environmentalists claim the number to be as high as 10,000 approximately and half of them are located around the capital. According to a UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) estimate, Bangladesh produces some 8.66 billion bricks a year at a value of $450 million -- almost 1.0 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Despite the sizeable contribution of brick making to the economy, one of the grim realities is that brick fields all over the country are getting increasingly invasive in grabbing its less than sufficient arable lands. More dangerous is the threat that comes in terms of affecting neighbourhood lands under cultivation because of the heat, caustic smoke and dust generated by the brick making plants. A local daily reports that over 6.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions are caused by the brick kilns annually, which is expected to grow by 35 per cent to an alarming 8.7 million tonnes by 2014.
Now, given the challenging nature of the task ahead, can the new law take its course as planned? The new law prohibits establishment of brick kilns in residential, protected, commercial and agricultural locations, and also in forests, sanctuaries, wetlands and ecologically critical areas. The law provides for stern actions to punish violators. Understandably, the authorities had had rounds of discussions with the stakeholders including the brick makers to ensure smooth implementation of the law. It would be difficult, but a strong political will should be able to shape things for the better.
Concerned quarters are of the opinion that alongside the law taking its course, there is the need to introduce modern green technology capable of taking care of the pollution aspect to a great extent. A UNDP funded project "Green Brick" was initiated in 2010 to introduce modern technology to the country's brick making industry with a shift to greener kilns that experts believe could halve the industry's carbon emissions. At a workshop held recently in the capital, the local UNDP representative reiterated the support of the UN to mitigate as early as possible environmental pollution at the local level by adopting more environment-friendly technologies in the country's brick making sector. It has been reported that the popular and widely accepted technology in this regard is smokeless, energy efficient Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHF) that the Green Brick project is going to introduce in the country. It has been gathered that the HHF brick kilns can burn most of the fuel used during firing. This also results in lesser energy use and a considerable cut on production costs. The most notable aspect of the technology is that it dries the bricks by directing hot air into the tunnel from the kiln, which blocks carbon emissions.
In view of the wide acceptance of the technology in advanced countries chiefly because of its emission preventing device, Bangladesh should have opted for it long back. The cost of the technology is reportedly high. But keeping in view its efficiency, cost-effectiveness, high scale of production and, above all, emission-free mechanism, it is highly imperative that the government gradually phased out the traditional kilns, and provided necessary support by way of soft-term financing to encourage the green technology.
The new brick making law is no doubt a welcome initiative. However, the fact that laws are mere expressions of intent and can only be rendered meaningful through strict enforcement must, not be lost sight of.
wasiahmed.bd@hotmail.com