The Department of Environment has conducted a nationwide anti-pollution campaign from 2 January to 10 April, shutting down hundreds of illegal brick kilns and collecting over Tk24 crore in fines from polluters across the country.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change today (11 April), a total of 778 mobile court drives were carried out targeting multiple sources of pollution, including vehicles emitting black smoke, illegal brick kilns, steel mills, noise pollution, hazardous waste discharge, battery recycling factories, landfilling of water bodies, tire pyrolysis, charcoal factories, and open storage of construction materials causing air pollution.
The drives led to 1,663 cases being filed and fines amounting to Tk24,09,50,100 being imposed and recovered.
As part of the crackdown, the chimneys of 438 illegal brick kilns were demolished, rendering them inoperable, while another 210 brick kilns were served closure notices. Additionally, raw bricks at 124 kilns were destroyed and power connections to 7 kilns were disconnected. One individual was sentenced to one month of simple imprisonment.
In a separate drive against lead pollution, lead smelting equipment was seized from seven unauthorised establishments, resulting in the closure of those factories.
On 10 April alone, six mobile court drives were conducted in Gulshan-1 and 2, Matuail, Aminbazar, Mohammadpur, and Narayanganj areas of Dhaka city.
The operation focused on controlling air pollution caused by construction materials, leading to five cases being filed and fines worth Tk2.59 lakh collected.
On the same day, a mobile court operation in Dhaka’s Aminbazar dismantled an illegal lead-acid battery smelting factory and confiscated its equipment.
In Gazipur, a drive against the illegal filling of water bodies resulted in a warning issued to an individual, who was instructed to restore the filled pond within five days.
Meanwhile, mobile courts in Manikganj and Dinajpur filed eight cases against illegal brick kilns, imposing fines of Tk1.9 lakh. During the operations, one kiln’s chimney and raw bricks were demolished, and electricity connections to six kilns were cut.
The Department of Environment has pledged to continue such drives in the future to curb pollution and protect the environment.