Defiance is the name of the game

 Greenhouse gas emissions

A large operational brick kiln in the Amin Bazaar area of the capital, Dhaka.

Thousands of brick kiln owners continue to defy the year-old law that makes it mandatory for them to adapt environmentally friendly technology to reduce air pollution.
In a recent public notification in national newspapers, the Department of Environment (DoE) reminded the kiln owners regarding the law that came into force on July 1, 2014 banning all traditional kilns. It stated that banks are offering soft loans for the owners to modify their kilns and make them relatively more environmentally friendly. It also warns the public about health hazards and adverse environmental effects caused by the lethal emissions from such kilns. Since the law was enacted, only 25 percent of the kilns have adapted one of the several methods available to reduce emissions of deadly gases, an official of the DoE said.
According to research by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and BUET in 2008 and 2007 respectively, new technologies such as the Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) and the Hybrid Hoffmann Kiln (HHK), are substantially cleaner than the Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) currently used in 90% of Bangladesh’s brick kilns. These improved technologies consume less energy and emit lower levels of pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Burning low quality coal, used tyres, plastic and fuel-wood during the lean months of the year, the 7000 brick kilns around the country, including 2500 in the capital Dhaka, belch out 9.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the air every year, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). With rapid urbanisation, the product of these kilns, bricks, are in huge demand throughout the country.

The smog from the kilns are visible in the air surrounding the capital. The picture was taken in the Savar area of the capital recently.

Between September and March, emissions from the kilns around the capital create a thick smog, rich in carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and other lethal gases, restricting visibility and causing major health hazards. Moreover, rapidly increasing number of vehicles plying the city streets makes Dhaka’s air even more poisonous. Brick kilns and motor vehicles contribute to 60% of fine particulate pollution in Dhaka during these months.
Many hospitals in the capital and in other urban areas report of a huge rush of patients of all ages with severe respiratory problems during these months. Sales of drugs for the related diseases multiply too.
World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks Bangladesh fourth amongst 91 countries having the worst urban air quality.WHO says outdoor air pollution has caused deaths to 3.7 million people in 2012 alone. It is now the world’s single largest environmental health risk.

Thousands of unbaked bricks are lined up in front of the large kiln waiting to be baked, in the Savar area of the capital.

Qurban Ali is a brick kiln owner in Savar. He says the conversion costs are so high they can hardly afford them. “We know this is causing harm to people but Tk. 60 lakh is too high for us to spend for conversion of a kiln.”
Bangladesh is also ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to face the effects of rapid climate changes. Many places in the country’s south and south-western areas are visibly showing signs of rising salinity. Thousands of families in Khulna’s coastal areas have already migrated to large cities around the country. Unable to grow crops in their farmlands, many of these families have been encouraged to migrate to Chittagong hill tracts in the eastern part of the country under a government scheme.
Despite all the resolutions adopted by the latest Paris climate summit, Bangladesh government is now setting up several coal based power plants, one of which is so near the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world.
In addition to brick kilns, these gigantic power plants, once operational, will belch out greenhouse gases surpassing brick kilns by many a mile.
Report and Photographs by Morshed Ali Khan

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Posted by Reportsbd on Jan 9 2016. Filed under Environment, Home Slide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry