File photo of Bangladesh High Court
The High Court today ordered the government to take necessary steps in a week in order to prevent the illegal brick kilns in different places of the three hill districts–Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Rangamati–from starting their activities.
The HC asked the deputy commissioners of the three districts to comply with the directives and to submit compliance reports before it in two weeks.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury delivered the order after hearing a writ petition filed by in 2022 by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) seeking necessary directives to stop the activities of illegal brick kilns without licenses in the three hill districts.
Petitioner’s lawyer Manzill Murshid told the court that the season for production of brick kilns has already started.
If illegal brick kilns start operations, it will harm the environment and public health, he said.
Advocate Manzill Murshid also mentioned that if directives are not given from the HC to prevent illegal brick kilns from starting operations, those will start the seasonal works again and therefore, it will be very harmful to the environment.
