Professional Documents
Culture Documents
First of all, we would like to express gratitude to almighty Allah for enabling us to complete
this report on ‘Impacts of Brick Fields on Environment and Agricultural Economy’.
Successfully completed the project in association with all group members. We have also taken
help from different people for the preparation of this report. Now, there is a little effort to show
a deep gratitude to that helpful person. We convey our sincere gratitude to our Academic
Supervisor Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Asst. Professor, Dept. of URP, and Anutosh Das,
Lecturer, Dept. of URP, of Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology. Without their
kind direction and proper guidance this study would have been a little success. In every phase
of the project their supervision and guidance shaped the report to be completed perfectly.
Rajshahi, Thankfully
Razu Ahmmed
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ABSTRACT
This study investigated environmental and socio-economic impacts of brick fields at Horian
Union and Belpukur Union, of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. A snowball sampling method
has been conducted for gathering the respective information of the study and the sampling has
been done over the population who work in the brick industry and the residents living around
the industry. Then a questionnaire survey document was prepared for the analysis purpose. The
findings of this study were based on randomly selected respondents’ perception on change of
any resource or condition. As a major outcome the study reveals that crop loss, decreased soil
fertility and subsequent reductions in crop production were reported. Trees around brickfields
were dusted badly and water quality of nearby water bodies deteriorated because of emerged
dust and ash from brick fields. Noticeable negative impacts on aquaculture were found. Despite
creating work opportunities for local people, brick fields of the study area adversely affected
environment and agricultural economy.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 7
1.1: Background of the study ................................................................................................. 7
1.2: Objective of the study ..................................................................................................... 7
1.3: Scope of the study ........................................................................................................... 7
1.4: Limitation of the study .................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 02: LITEARTURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 9
CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 11
3.1 Selection of the study ..................................................................................................... 11
3.2 Selection of the study area ............................................................................................. 11
3.3 Formulation of objectives............................................................................................... 11
3.4 Data collection................................................................................................................ 11
3.4.1 Primary data collection ............................................................................................ 11
3.4.2 Secondary data collection: ....................................................................................... 12
3.5 Data processing & analysis ............................................................................................ 12
3.6 Preparation of final report .............................................................................................. 12
CHAPTER 04: STUDY AREA PROFILE .............................................................................. 13
4.1 Selection of the study areas: ........................................................................................... 13
4.2 Location of the study areas: ........................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 05: DELINEATION OF THE RESPONDENTS ................................................. 14
5.1: Occupation of the respondent........................................................................................ 14
5.2: Switching of Occupation ............................................................................................... 15
5.3: Working Hour ............................................................................................................... 15
5.4: Satisfaction level on the basis of income of the respondent ......................................... 16
CHAPTER 06: AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS ....................................................................... 18
6.1: Yielding of crop production .......................................................................................... 18
6.2: Selection of alternatives crops ...................................................................................... 18
6.3: Arrival of new problems (at present) ............................................................................ 19
6.4: Uses of fertilizer ............................................................................................................ 19
6.5: Consequences on plants ................................................................................................ 20
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6.6: Production of crops ....................................................................................................... 20
6.7: Agricultural Loss ........................................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 07: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ................................................................... 24
7.1: Effects on air ................................................................................................................. 24
7.2: Health status of respondents.......................................................................................... 24
7.3: Possibility of Deforestation ........................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 08: INDUSTRY PROFILE ................................................................................... 27
8.1: Accessibility .................................................................................................................. 27
8.2. Labor Availability ......................................................................................................... 27
8.3. Brick Making Technologies .......................................................................................... 27
8.3.1 Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) ..................................................................................... 28
8.3.2 Zigzag Kiln or Hawa Bhatta .................................................................................... 28
8.3.3 Improved Zigzag Kiln ............................................................................................. 28
8.3.4 Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHK) .................................................................................. 28
8.3.5 Tunnel Kiln .............................................................................................................. 29
8.4. Supply of Raw Materials ............................................................................................... 29
8.5. Land Value .................................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 09: SOCIO ECONOMIC PROSPECTS WITH KEY FINDINGS ...................... 33
9.1. Effects on animal husbandry and deforestation ............................................................ 33
9.2. Discrimination Increased............................................................................................... 33
9.3. Loss in Fruit Garden ...................................................................................................... 33
9.4. Pond and Fish Production ............................................................................................. 34
9.5. Other Problems .............................................................................................................. 35
CHAPTER 10: EXISTING POLICIES, LEGISLATIONS AND STUDY AREA ................. 37
10.1 Brick Kiln Policy, 2008................................................................................................ 37
10.2 Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 37
10.3 Issues ............................................................................................................................ 37
10.4 National Land Use Policy 2001 ................................................................................... 39
10.5 Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) Act, 2013 ................... 39
10.6 Existing Condition of the Study Area .......................................................................... 41
CHAPTER 11: RECOMMENDATION .................................................................................. 44
CHAPTER 12: CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 45
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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES PAGE NO.
Table 5.4: Income level (per day) * Level of satisfaction Cross tabulation………………......17
Table 6.3: Arrival of new problems (at present)……………………………………….……...20
Table 6.5: Consequences on plants……………………………………………………..….....21
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Table 6.7: Prices of different crops …………………………………………………...…..…..22
Table 6.7.1 Calculation of the agricultural income before the built of brick Industry…….…23
Table6.7.2 Calculation of the agricultural income after the built of brick Industry……….23-24
Table 7.2: Health status of respondents………………………………………........................25
Table 8.3.5 Comparing Different Brick Kilns………………………………………...............30
Table 9.1: Effects on Animal Husbandry and Deforestation.…………………………….…...34
Table10.5: Provisions of Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Act, 2013….…..……...…40-41
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CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION
Bricks play significant role as a construction material. In Bangladesh about 8,000 brick fields
are set up without clear environmental guidelines (The Financial Express, 2013). About 25 to
26 percent of country's wood is used for burning bricks every year, causing deforestation. Brick
burning contributes to environmental pollution, ecosystem damage and also to absorption of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in higher quantities (IUSS, 2002). Brick kilns have long
term and short-term impacts on the environment. As increasing of brick fields has huge impact
on environment, it also has a huge impact on agriculture too.
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information was expected to indicate positive or negative impacts of the brickfields on
agriculture, aquaculture and agricultural economic condition of the study area.
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CHAPTER 02: LITEARTURE REVIEW
Brick is one of the major construction materials that have been widely used all over
Bangladesh. Bangladesh is witnessing a rapid boom in construction sector and the increasing
demand for bricks have resulted into unplanned and uncontrolled number of brick kilns all
over the country (Rajib and Wahi 2012). In recent or past there has lots of research, project
work have been done. Several times it has closely related to the environmental issue. As the
rapid grow of brick fields, there mainly affects the agricultural land. In this project the authors
find out the impact of brick fields on agricultural economy. In developing countries, urban
clusters of manufacturers which are “informal” small scale, unlicensed and virtually
unregulated can have severe environmental impacts (Bartone and Benavides 1997). There are
nearly 5,000 brick kilns operating in Bangladesh and contributing about 1% to the country’s
gross domestic product (GDP) and generating employment for about 1 million people (BUET
2007). In aggregate starved Bangladesh, fired clay bricks form a significant portion of the
materials used in the construction industry, which has been growing at about 5.6 percent
annually between 1995 and 2005 (World Bank 2011). In Bangladesh despite the importance
of the brick sector, about 90 % of brick kilns use outdated technologies. So that environment
pollutes and as a result it harms the production of crops and the ultimate GDP which should
come from the agricultural crops that disappoint the concerned people.
According to “Impacts of Brick Kilns’ Emission on soil quality of agricultural fields in the
vicinity of selected Bhaktapur Area of Nepal” (Gunjan Bisht and Sanjila Neupane 2015), the
author clearly stated that due to excessive number of brick kilns the soil particles changes its
nature. The soil properties do a massive change. As the author clearly reported that the findings
revealed that concentrations of heavy metals (chromium and lead) were within permissible
limit, although the levels were higher in soil at 50 m and decrease farther from brick kiln.
However, the physical parameters and nutrient content were deficient in soil at 50 m while
increasing gradually at distances of 100 m and 150 m. The variation of result obtained for
physical parameters supports the fact that quality of soil in terms of heavy metal content and
nutrient content was directly proportional to the distance from the kiln; that is, the quality of
soil increased with increasing distance.
According to “Farmlands lose fertile topsoil to brick fields in Lalmonirhat” (The Daily Star
2019) the labors cutting off topsoil from a farmland for manufacturing bricks in the brick field
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at Purbo Nawdabansh village in Nawdabansh union under Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat.
The topsoil of vast areas of farmlands in the agriculture based northern district is being used
for manufacturing bricks, which is having a harmful impact on agriculture and the environment.
Farmers are aware in this regard, but they are forced to sell the topsoil of their farmlands to
brick kiln owners. Around 40 brick kilns have been set up in farmlands of five upazilas in the
district, violating the government rule, and they all use the topsoil of the farmlands to make
bricks. Collection of topsoil from farmlands surrounding brick kilns begins after harvesting of
Aman paddy and continues for around one and a half months. Due to the demand of topsoil,
most of the agricultural land is dedicated for this reason. Also for this, the crop production rate
is gone at the below average.
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CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY
Methodology is the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a field of study.
It is the study or description of methods. It implies more than simply the methods used to collect
data. Here are the stages that were followed,
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3.4.2 Secondary data collection: Relevant books, articles, documents, different maps, laws
and legislations, information were collected through internet browsing as secondary data
source.
Formulation of Objectives
Data Collection
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CHAPTER 04: STUDY AREA PROFILE
4.1 Selection of the study areas: Considering the maximum number of brick fields, some
places are selected for this survey. The selected areas are in Katakhali upazila, Rajshahi. These
areas are located at the outer side of the city and the agricultural land is available surrounding
those brick fields, that’s the reason why these sites are chosen as the study area.
4.2 Location of the study areas: The study areas are Harian Purbo Para, Harian poschim Para,
Jaigir Para, Kazir Para and Hatpara, which are situated in Harian and Belpukur Union,
Katakhali and Puthia upazila, in Rajshahi district.
Legend
Brick Fields
Figure 4.2.2: Location of the Brick Fields Source: Google earth, 2019
As the research is totally based on the overall effects of brick industries on environment and
agricultural economy, those areas are to be selected where there are ample number of brick
fields are present and these areas meet that criteria and are conducive enough to extract the data
needed.
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CHAPTER 05: DELINEATION OF THE RESPONDENTS
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5.2: Switching of Occupation
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second highest percentage of people working 12 hours in a day is 19.19% and then there comes
work on the basis of a contract, on the basis of a single whole day.
This table shows the satisfaction level of the respondents with respect to income level per day.
Table 5.4: Income level(per day) * Level of satisfaction Cross tabulation
Category of income Level of satisfaction Total
Highly Satisfied Ok Dissatisfied Highly
satisfied dissatisfied
200-250 1 0 0 5 0 6
Income level(per
250-350 1 5 7 8 8 29
day)
>350 8 20 22 9 1 60
Total 10 25 29 22 9 95
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daily earning exceeds to 350 taka. In the category of 250-300 taka about 88.89% of people said
that they are highly dissatisfied and only 10% were highly satisfied. The category of >350 taka
shows that the satisfaction level is rising and about 80% of people are highly satisfied with
their daily earnings.
Concluding Notes
This chapter depicts the economic status of the respondents. Their choice of occupations, their
income level and contentment, working duration all these information illustrates a surrealistic
view of the respondents dwelling in the region of these brick fields. These information were
extracted for having a total demonstration about the lifestyle of the people related to this
industry which appears helpful for the further research works.
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CHAPTER 06: AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS
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Due to the serious damages of the crops and fruits, most of the people have switch to the
selection of alternative crops and this rate is 16.16% but about 74.75% people did not change
it and 9.09% people did not give any opinion. Most of the respondents said that they had no
option of alternative crops because of serious problem of irrigation.
Due to excessive pollution caused by brick field, the yielding of crop production has decreased
badly. For the increase in crop production agrarians use high dose of fertilizers which is about
74.75% and 14.14% use it in medium rate, 7.07% apply the normal dose.
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6.5: Consequences on plants
Table 6.5: Consequences on plants
None 2 1.1%
Total 182 100.0%
This table shows that, delay in budding and complexity in fruiting process are the major
problems for plants for the impacts of brick fields. These problems are more acute for mango
plants.
Production of crops
All values measured in kg/bigha
1691.2
1283.2
771.6 792.2
654 626.8 628.4
452.4 471.6
373.2 384
245.6
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6.7: Agricultural Loss
All the agricultural land in the study area are triple crops cultivated land. The farmers of the
study area cultivate crops in three times in one land, they choose one types of crops between
Aman and Aus paddy is first time then they cultivate one crops among Wheat, Musur, Onion
etc. Besides the two types of crops most of the farmer cultivate Jute for third time. Boro paddy
is not cultivated in the area.
To find out the agricultural loss for the impacts of “Brick Fields”, at first calculate the amount
of production before the built of brick field and after the built of brick field from the answer of
the respondent. Secondly, multiply the amount of crops with total land to find out the total
amount of production. Finally, calculate the total amount income from agricultural sector in
taka from the prices of crops in last year.
Table 6.7: Prices of different crops
Average Wholesale Price- 2017 ( )
Sl No. Name of commodity Price Average Price
01 Paddy Aman Fine 2,362
02 ,, Medium 2,338 2629.6
03 ,, Coarse 2,105
04 ,, Pajam 2,742
05 ,, Aromatic 3,601
06 Paddy Aus : Medium 2,287 2161.5
07 ,, Coarse 2,036
08 Wheat : Red 2,131 2159.5
09 ,, White 2,188
10 Pulse Masur 7,787 7787
11 Jute White/Tosa Top 3,998
13 ,, B- Bottom 3,799
14 ,, C- Bottom 3,419
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The calculation is divided into two groups according to the crop choice of farmers. One is
Aman-Jute-Musur and another is Aus-Jute-Wheat. The farmers choose one group of crops
for the cultivation.
Calculation of the agricultural income before the built of brick Industry
If the farmers choose the first group of Aman-Jute-Musur:
Table 6.7.1 Calculation of the agricultural income before the built of brick Industry
Crop Production Total Total Net Price of Income
(kg/acre) Land Land of cultivated crop (BDT)
(acre) Brick field land (BDT/kg)
(acre) (acre)
Aman 2314 26.29 8286951
Jute 1962 192.22 56 136.22 37.31 9971606
Musur 1414 77.87 14998936
Total 33257493
If the farmers choose the second group of Aus-Jute-Wheat:
Table 6.7.1 Calculation of the agricultural income before the built of brick Industry.
Crop Production Total Total Net Price of Income
(kg/acre) Land Land of cultivated crop (BDT)
(acre) Brick land (BDT/kg)
field (acre)
(acre)
Aus 2314 21.61 6811754
Jute 1962 192.22 56 136.22 37.31 9971606
Wheat 1880 21.59 5529060
Total 22312420
Calculation of the agricultural income after the built of brick Industry
If the farmers choose the first group of Aman-Jute-Musur:
Table6.7.2 Calculation of the agricultural income after the built of brick Industry
Crop Production Total Total Net Price of Income
(kg/acre) Land Land of cultivated crop (BDT)
(acre) Brick land (BDT/kg)
field (acre)
(acre)
Aman 1357 26.29 4859720
Jute 1119 192.22 56 136.22 37.31 5687170
Musur 736 77.87 7807084
Total 18353974
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If the farmers choose the second group of Aus-Jute-Wheat:
Table6.7.2 Calculation of the agricultural income after the built of brick Industry
Crop Production Total Total Net Price of Income
(kg/acre) Land Land of cultivated crop (BDT)
(acre) Brick field land (BDT/kg)
(acre) (acre)
Aus 1357 21.61 3994620
Jute 1119 192.22 56 136.22 37.31 5687170
Wheat 1152 21.59 3388020
Total 9474650
From the above calculation, it is concluded that a huge amount of loss occurred in agricultural
sector per year for the impacts of brick industry in the study area. Moreover the spaces which
is used as the area of brick field for six brick industries in the study area cannot be used for the
cultivation purpose. In the study area total 56 acres of land is used in six brick industry. So the
56 acres of land has been deducted from the total agricultural land in the study area.
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CHAPTER 07: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Disease
N Percent
Skin disease 53 26.4%
Eye irritation 69 34.3%
Respiratory problems 76 37.8%
No problem 3 1.5%
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Types of disease found with respondents
Disease
2%
26% Skin disease
38%
Eye irritation
Respiratory problems
34% No problem
Figure 7.2: Types of disease appear for the impacts of brick fields
The harmful gas emissions from the brick industry has left over an ill impact on the human
body. About 38% people suffer from respiratory problems, 34% people suffer from Eye
irritation and the rest 26% said about the various skin diseases
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industry. About 91.92 % respondents said that there is a possibility of deforestation and 8.08%
did not agree with this perspective.
NOTES: Environmental impacts of the brick industry are hermetically related to the human
health. The outflow of Smoke, fumes, vapor from the chimney causes serious damage to the
health as well as it has a detrimental effect on nature. Trees used in making bricks are cut down
severely, causing deforestation in some areas. This badly hurts the entire ecosystem.
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CHAPTER 08: INDUSTRY PROFILE
Industry profile data is collected from each brick field according to their concerning members.
It is generally prepared for finding the causes for growing this sector in this area. According to
the respondent the factors that attract this brick field sector are analyzed.
8.1: Accessibility
The brick fields have grown in this area because of a convenience in accessibility. These brick
fields are situated beside the Rajshahi-Dhaka bypass road and very short way to reach the
construction sites. Every brick field has linked with local road or tertiary road. For this reason
any vehicles can easily enter into the brick field, load brick and bring out safely.
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There are different technologies being used in brick kilns in Bangladesh such as Fixed Chimney
Kiln (FCK), Zigzag, Improved Zigzag, Hybrid Hoffman (HHK), Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln
(VSBK) and Tunnel Kiln.
8.3.1 Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK)
FCK is essentially a modified Bull’s Trench Kilns with a 120 ft long fixed chimney. It has
elliptical shape shaped dugout area. The bottom and the sidewalls of the kiln are lined with
bricks keeping the top open. Sun dried bricks are sacked in the kiln in an orderly fashion leaving
enough room for fuel stoking and air circulation. The kiln has underground piping to diver the
flue gas from anywhere in the kiln to the fixed chimney. The FCK has better insulation than
BTK in the sidewall, which reduces heat loss to the surroundings. The cost of construction of
the chimney is nearly 50% of the total cost of a FCK.
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8.3.5 Tunnel Kiln
The tunnel kiln is considered to be the most advanced brick making technology. In a Tunnel
Kiln, green bricks produced by mixing powdered fuel with clay are loaded on cars and then
pushed in the kiln, a horizontal tunnel. The firing of products occurs at the central part of the
tunnel. Fuel is fed into the firing zone of the kiln through feed holes provided in the kiln roof.
Cold air enters the kiln for the car exit and cools the fired bricks while getting heated as it
proceeds towards the firing zone. After combustion, the hot flue gases travel towards the car
entrance end losing a part of the heat to the green bricks entering the kiln.
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The graph has shown that most of the part of raw materials or soil has been collected by creating
pond (83.33%) and then agricultural land surface (16.67%). In time of surveying the land
owners it becomes clear that most of the soil are collected from the agro land by creating pond.
For this reason Changrhar Beel, Kaluparha Beel etc are staying with a lot of ponds rather
than greenery.
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Source: Google earth, 2019
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Concluding notes: Bricks are normally built from the top soil of the ground. The excavation
process leads the ground to depression. Sometimes the water is been logged unintentionally
and crops cannot be cultivated any more in that land, which leads to a huge loss in the
agricultural economy.
Different methods of brick making process have been discussed in this chapter and each of
them has different yielding capacity, Tunnel Kiln Type has the highest rate of production
among all.
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CHAPTER 09: SOCIO ECONOMIC PROSPECTS WITH KEY
FINDINGS
In this part the findings that collected from this survey and analysis will try to relate with social
economy. The present condition of the surrounding people and their present problem related to
social economy.
People who use animal husbandry like cows and goats for extra revenue by collecting leaves
or grass can’t do that.
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9.4. Pond and Fish Production
According to respondents answer effects on pond is normal and the fish production is moderate.
Brick field’s effect on pond and fish production can’t be understand properly. A study (Shingair
village at Balla union of Kalihati upazila in Tangail) also founded that due to top soil removal
activities medium high land was converted to medium low land resulting in the changing of
land type from agricultural land to unproductive land (Kabir et al, 2017). Agricultural land is
used as pond and the soil is used in brick field so future use of that land should be ensured.
Otherwise it will be an unproductive land.
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9.5. Other Problems
Among 100 samples, every responder have different opinion according to the questionnaire.
During making questionnaire, some questions were set as open ended question. So that some
exceptional information can be extracted. The study area is based on agricultural economy. But
in recent times there is a huge lack of production of crops.
For big amount of brick industries, the environment is affected so much. For that new diseases
has affected the crops. Not only crops, but also fruits are also affected. Potato, mango, paddy,
red gram these products are hampered due to bad impact of environment. Another important
symptom is that tree’s leaves are drying and that is the most brutal issue. Nips of paddies are
drying and wheat’s production getting low. Flowers are dropping out to some related reasons.
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Source: Field Survey, 2019
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CHAPTER 10: EXISTING POLICIES, LEGISLATIONS AND STUDY
AREA
The Brick Kiln Policy 2008 has been formulated with the focus of controlling indiscriminate
establishment of brick kilns, using the tool of environment clearance certificate issued by the
Department of Environment under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995. The
Brick Kiln Policy is based on 3 objectives and 7 issues.
10.2 Objectives
10.3 Issues
The Brick Kiln Policy 2008 provides the framework for management of brick sector, focusing
on 7 different issues elaborated below:
In order to avoid increased pressured on agricultural land and localized pollution, 6 conditions
are to be met while selecting site for brick field such as i)priorities will be given to establish
brick kiln in the bank of river, canals and wetlands and in char land, ii) brick kiln cannot be
built in residential, commercial, municipal, forest and other officially declared restricted areas,
iii) brick kiln shall be set up keeping a distance from key installations, highways, hills,
education and research institutes and hospitals and clinics stipulated in the rules, iv) no brick
kilns can be setup in 3 hill districts namely, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarbans, and pre-
dominantly agricultural areas where land is not kept fallow for crop production in anytime of
a year, v) baseline air quality of proposed site for a brick field shall not exceeds national
standards.
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(b) Operational Aspects
Operational aspects give an outline about types of fuels and soil that can be used in brick
kilns. With the aim of resource conservation and pollution control, 6 conditions are set out for
brick kilns including i) firewood cannot be used as fuel in kilns, ii) coal being used as fuel
shall contain reasonably low levels of sulpher, ash, mercury and other trace elements, iii)
maximum land area for a brick field shall be not more than 1 acre, iv) soil from fertile land
being used for cropping twice and thrice in a year and hills or hillocks cannot be used for
brick making.
The policy requires relocation of brick kiln whose current site is not appropriate in the light of
the Brick Policy 2008. By fulfilling the obligations set out in (a) and (b), existing brick kilns
can be relocated.
A brief and general outline is given in the policy for controlling pollution from brick kilns. In
order to mitigate pollution, best available technology shall be installed in the brick kilns so
that emission from kilns does not exceed national standards.
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10.4 National Land Use Policy 2001
Section 13.2 of the policy recognizes that increasing use of bricks in construction sector and
establishing brick kilns indiscriminate have caused land use change, resulting in deterioration
of environment. In order to surmount these problems, the policy suggests encouraging the use
hollow blocks made of stone chips, sand and cement in construction work as alternative to clay
bricks.
10.5 Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) Act, 2013
The first act to regulate brick burning was formulated during 1989 which was named as Brick
Burning (Control) Act, 1989. That act was emendated (revised) twice and the revised versions
were published as Brick Kiln (Control) (Amendment) Act, 1992 and Brick Kiln (Control)
(Amendment) Act, 2001. However, in November 2013, a new law in this regard was
formulated which is referred to as Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control)
Act, 2013. This act came into force on 1st of July 2014.
This act strictly bans the establishment of brick kilns in residential, business and
preserved areas, agricultural land, government or private forests, orchard, sanctuary or
wetland, degraded air shed and in ecologically critical area. It also restricts the collection
of soil from agricultural land, mountains, and hillocks for manufacturing bricks.
However, no one would be able to collect soil from haor-baors, ponds, canals, beels, river
beds, chars and fallow land for brick manufacturing purpose without the permission from
appropriate authority. In order to reduce the use of soil, this act requires all the brick kilns with
modern technology to prepare at least 50% hollow brick. This act prohibits burning fuel wood
or any kind of wood for brick burning. Moreover, it proscribes the use of coal which exceeds
the standards of sulphur, mercury, ash contents or other similar substances. Violation of this
law would cause a person a maximum of 5 years of jail and/or BDT 500,000. All the
punishable crimes under this law would be incognizable and bailable. The principle provisions
of the act include the following:
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Table 10.5: Principle provisions of the Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment
Act, 2013
Section Provision under section
Section 4 Prohibits brick manufacturing without taking
license from the Deputy Commissioner of
the district.
Section 5 (1) Bans collection of soil from agricultural land,
hill or hillock for brick making.
Section 5 (2) Requires permission from appropriate
authority for collection of soil for brick
manufacturing from haor-baors, ponds,
canals, beels, river beds, chars and fallow
land.
Section 5 (3) Minimum 50% hollow bricks shall be made
in the brick kilns with modern technology.
Section 6 Bans fuel wood in brick kilns for burning
brick
Section 7 Proscribes the use of coal, exceeding the
standards of sulphur, mercury, ash contents
or other similar substances in the brick kilns.
Section 8(1) Bans the establishment of brick kilns within
the boundary of residential, commercial or
preserved area, municipality or upazila
headquarters, forest, orchard, wetland,
sanctuary, agricultural land, ecologically
critical area and degraded air shed.
Section 8(2) Bans the establishment of brick kilns in the
following distance or places, namely: (a)
within 1 kilometer distance from the
boundary of prohibited areas (mentioned
above), (b) within 2 kilometers distance from
boundary of public forest, (c) within half
kilometer distance from the foot of the hill or
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hillock, (d) within 1 kilometer distance from
any special structure, railways, educational
institutions, hospitals and clinics, research
institutions or any other similar place or
institution, and (f) with half kilometer
distance from upazila (sub-district), union or
rural roads made by Local Government
Engineering Department (LGED).
Section 12(1) Requires forming a Search Committee in
each district consisting of an Additional
Deputy Commissioner, Upaziala Executive
Officer, Upazila Health Officer, Upazila
Agriculture Officer, Divisional Forest
Officer and a district officer of the
Department of Environment.
Section 12(2) Outlines functions of the Search Committee
which include making recommendation
regarding issuance or renewal of license.
Source: National strategy for sustainable brick production in Bangladesh, 2017
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ⅰ According to section (1) bans collection of soil from agricultural land but present scenario
is different. Their main source of raw materials or soil is collected from agro land.
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ⅲAccording to section (6) bans fuel wood in brick kilns for burning brick. Still this law is
violated in the study area.
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CHAPTER 11: RECOMMENDATION
As authors do the research, find out the causal effects as well as economic losses of agriculture
so, for the addition with related to the objective, the authors recommend some
recommendations according to the project work. This recommendation will help initially to the
concern authority to mitigate the problem as soon as possible. Some proposals have long terms
goal.
Brick kilns ought to be adapted with new technology which will be environment
friendly as well as it causes less damage to the environment
Law enforcement agencies should take steps against any violation of law.
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CHAPTER 12: CONCLUSION
From the study it was found that most of the brickfields of the study area were located near
agricultural lands and residential areas those were responsible for loss of agricultural
production, fish cultivation and local community’s health problems in great extent. Besides,
brick fields were considered as the principle reason of top soil degradation and environmental
pollution of the area.
More marketing is required to familiarize people with green bricks. This concept of green
bricks can be effective enough to reduce the ill effects of the brick industry over the agricultural
economy and Environment.
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