The High Court today directed the government to demolish all the 130 illegal brick kilns in Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati in a bid to curb the environment pollution and also asked to submit compliance reports before it in six weeks.
The court also ordered the deputy commissioners of the three Chattogram Hill Track (CHT) districts to take appropriate legal action including filing cases against the owners of 130 illegal brick kilns in three days.
The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Fatema Najib passed the order during hearing a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) seeking necessary directives to protect the environment from damage and pollution.
Writ petitioner's lawyer Manzill Murshid told The Daily Star that the maximum punishment for operating illegal brick kilns is two years' imprisonment under the Brick Kilns Control Act, 2013.
Earlier in the day, the deputy commissioners of three districts submitted three separate reports through Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy, saying that there are 130 brick kilns running illegally in the three districts.
Among those, 25 illegal brick kilns are operating in Rangamati, 35 are in Khagrachhari and 70 are in Bandarban, according to the reports.
