Illegal Comilla brick kiln evicted
A special team of the Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday evicted all the establishments of an illegal brick kiln in Sadar Dakshin upazila of Comilla.
The team also seized 4.5 lakh pieces of brick, pump machines, and other equipments of the brick kiln named BM Enterprise.
The brick kiln is only 1.5 kilometers away from a preserved forestland of the DoE and was set up by filling up a water body and destroying cultivable lands.
Though the DoE of Comilla and the upazila administration served notice on the owner of the brickfield, Abdullah Hasan Majumdar, three times to close the brick kiln, he did not obey the and showed utmost disrespect to the rule of law, says a press release.
Majumdar was asked to be present at the DoE Dhaka office on Thursday, where he challenged the environment act and expressed reluctance to remove the brick kiln.
Following the incident, DoE Director (enforcement) Muhammad Munir Chowdhury asked Deputy Director Abdullah Hakkani and Executive Magistrate Shamsul Alam and Comilla District Administration Magistrate Jakir Hossain to remove the brick kiln.
In the over four-hour drive, all the establishments of the brick kiln were removed using bulldozer and truck.
Munir Chowdhury said the owner has been taught that the rule of law still exists in the country. “What is the punishment for disobeying it has also been showed to him”.
Soon the DoE will realise compensation from the owner and file a criminal case against him, he said.
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