(BSS) - The Department of Environment (DoE) has shut down the operations of three illegal brick kilns in Sadar upazila and fined them Taka 15 lakh following a day-long raid.

The operation conducted on Sunday was lead by Executive Magistrate and Senior Assistant Secretary of the Monitoring and Enforcement Wing of the DoE, Faizunnesa Akhter. Md. Russell Mahmud, Assistant Director of the Narayanganj District Office of the DoE, served as the prosecution during the raid.

Narayanganj District Police, RAB-11, Fire Service, the Power Division (DPDC), and officials from the Narayanganj District Office of the Department of Environment were present.

The targeted brick kilns included Abdullah Bricks Suppliers-2 in Nandalalpur, Pagla, Sadar Upazila, and M/s MSB Bricks and M/s SUA Bricks in the Dapa area of Shilkuri. Each kiln was fined Taka 5 lakh for operating illegally.

Under the Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment (Control) Act, 2013 (amended 2019), the authorities disconnected the kilns’ electricity connections, removed meters, and used excavators to crush bricks and installations. The chimneys were also partially demolished.

AHM Rased, Deputy Director of the Narayanganj District Office of the Department of Environment, emphasized that such drives against illegal brick kilns and other air-polluting factories would continue in the district.