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Brick kiln owners to try Indian system to cut pollution

By Imran Naeem Ahmad

ISLAMABAD: The Environment Ministry and the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Brick Kilns Owners’ Association will experiment by implementing the Indian system in a bid to curb pollution caused by scores of kilns in the capital.

Officials at a meeting agreed to form a delegation that would visit India to inspect the system of kilns in operation before replicating them here. Kilns Association President Chaudhry Riaz told Daily Times on Friday that the delegation to India would consist of ministry officials and representatives of the association.

“I think it will take about two to three weeks for the delegation to leave,” said Riaz while expressing hope that adoption of the Indian system would help resolve the long-standing controversy over kilns. The string of kilns lining the Islamabad Highway has been an irritant for residents of several colonies located in the area.

Riaz said the height of a brick kiln tower in Pakistan was 65 feet to 70 feet, whereas in India it stood at 120 foot or more. “At this height the negative effect of pollution on people living in the vicinity is decreased,” he explained.

There are about 100 brick kilns that fall in the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) jurisdiction and for long their smoke-billowing towers have been a cause of concern for people.

Earlier this year, CDA officials, the district administration and kiln owners had agreed to demolish 28 kilns along the highway and compensate their owners. However, a final figure of compensation could not be agreed upon as the owners felt the compensation was insufficient to establish a new unit, which reportedly costs Rs 5 million to Rs 6 million.

However, Riaz said that once the new system was introduced, the matter of decreasing the number of kilns would end. “I think there will be no need to do that because Indian chimneys are almost double the height of what we are using here and it will not harm people,” he said. During the meeting, the Kiln Owners’ Association sought funds for adopting the Indian system from the ministry. “We were assured by the officials that they would do their best in arranging the finances,” Riaz said. He however, did not disclose the costs involved.

Riaz pointed out that the problem of pollution arises when the smoke turns black. “As long as it remains white, it does not matter much,” he claimed.

A few of the kilns near the Islamabad International Airport have also been a target of the Civil Aviation Authority that has campaigned for their removal. They claim that the thick black smoke emanating from the chimneys is a threat to aeroplane safety.

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