Bangladesh Honorable High Court summoned five deputy commissioners to clarify the Illegal Brickfields

The High Court has summoned the Deputy commissioners of five districts around Dhaka, including the director-general of the Department of Environment (Bangladesh)- DOE, to know the progress of implementing the directive of the earlier court order to destroy illegal brickfields to control air pollution. They have been asked to appear in court on May 17, 2022.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim passed the order. The five districts of Bangladesh are Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Manikganj, and Gazipur.

Last March (2022), the High Court directed to destroy all the illegal brick kiln installations and construction materials in these five districts without any delay.

The Honorable High Court instructed the deputy commissioners of five districts and the Director-General, DOE, to close the Illegal Brickfields immediately and asked them to report to the court soon on implementing the directives.

Senior lawyer Manzil Morshed appeared for the writ petition. Deputy Attorney General Kazi Mainul Hasan represented the state, and Amatul Karim, a DOE lawyer, was present at the hearing.

Later, lawyer Manzil Morshed said, “Following a writ petition seeking directions to curb air pollution in Dhaka, the court at one stage directed to submit a list of illegal brick kilns. According to the DOE, illegal brick kilns in five districts are 318.

The court directed to stop the activities of illegal brick kilns and report on the implementation of the directive. After that, the deputy commissioners of the four districts said that 114 brickfields were closed.

Deputy Attorney General Kazi Mainul Hasan said, “A report has been submitted on implementing the directive to stop illegal brick kilns. Some have been implemented; some have not. The court could not be satisfied with this report.”