'No' to brick kiln on cropland
Farmers form a human chain on a farmland at Solongi village in Betila-Mitra union under Manikgnaj Sadar upazila yesterday protesting the move to set up a brick kiln there.Photo: STAR
Hundreds of farmers of Solondi village in Manikganj Sadar upazila formed a human chain on their cropland on Friday in protest against the plan to set up a brickfield there. “We started a farming project on 250 bighas of land 30 years ago and the farmers of the village depend on the paddy produced from here,” said farmer Nazrul Islam Nannu, also president of Solondi Deep Tubewell Samity. But Kamrul Hasan Selim, proprietor of Diana Brickfield, and his brother Abdus Salam of the village are trying to buy or grab the lands to make a brickfield here, he said. "Earlier around 100 bighas of land from our project area was taken to set up a brickfield in the adjacent area. The farmers will face a tough situation if another brickfield is built,” Siddiqur Rahman, a shareholder of the project, said. “If the brickfield is built, it will mean end to the large farming scheme,” said Shamsuddin Ahmed, manager of the project. “We will give life but not our paddy lands,” said Abdul Jalil, owner of two bighas of land in the village. When contacted, Selim, one of the initiators of the brickfield, however said they will not set up the brickfield if the farmers do not want. Asked about the matter, Mohammad Mokbul Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Environment in Manikganj, said, "I was not aware of the initiative to set up a brickfield on farmland. Such an act goes against environmental laws. I will see the matter."
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