9 illegal brick kilns shut down, fined Tk47 lakh in Sirajganj

Nine illegal brick kilns were shut down and fined Tk47 lakh on Thursday in Sirajganj's Raiganj and Tarash upazilas.

These brick kilns did not have any clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE) but were operating illegally for a long time without following government regulations, said Abdul Ghafur, assistant director of the district environment department.

A mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Faizunnessa Akter conducted a drive in the district on Thursday and fined one brick kiln in Tarash and eight more in Raiganj upazila.

The kilns were also demolished by the mobile court.

Officials of the Department of Environment, along with police and ansar members were present during the operation.

Meanwhile in Dhaka, the Department of Environment shut down four more illegal brick kilns as they were polluting air at Keraniganj in Dhaka.

A total of Tk64 lakhs in fines was also slapped on the four brick kilns in a mobile court drive run jointly by the head office and Dhaka office of the Department of Environment on Thursday.