Guwahati: At least eight illegal brick kilns were razed in lower Assam’s Kamrup district for operating without permission from the authorities.
The district administration and police on Monday demolished the unauthorized brick kilns in the Nagarbera area.
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“Some people were illegally running brick kilns in the area without permission from the government. The kilns did not have any permission to operate from the district administration. They also had not obtained the mandatory environmental clearance from Assam State Pollution Control Board,” said a district administration official.
Banashree Malakar, Circle Officer of Nagarbera said the district administration had conducted operations against illegal and unauthorised brick kilns in different locations of the district.
“Earlier, we warned them to not run the brick kilns without proper permission from the government, but they defied our instruction,” Malakar said.
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“Today we launched a crackdown against these illegal brick kilns and pulled them down,” she added.
Illegal brick kilns operating in the area not only pose a threat to the environment but also to human beings.
Smoke emanating from such units causes skin and eye diseases, scabies and asthma.
“Use of firewood and low-quality coal at the brick kilns causes pollution in the nearby areas. The coals used in the units produce seven to ten per cent sulfur against only one per cent produced by good quality coal. The kilns also pose a threat to agriculture, forest and biodiversity in the area,” said a local environmentalist, who did not wish to be named.