EPCCD fails to ensure full implementation of zig-zag technology in Rawalpindi district
Preparation of bricks in a kiln in Multan. Photo: APP (file)
RAWALPINDI:
The Environment Protection and Climate Change Department (EPCCD), Rawalpindi, in coordination with the district administration, has failed to ensure installation of environment-friendly zig-zag technology in brick kilns across the district.
There are approximately 250 large and small brick kilns operating across Rawalpindi district. On the outskirts of Rawalpindi, particularly in Mandrah and Rawat areas, 85 to 90 percent of kilns have adopted green zig-zag technology.
However, in Gujar Khan, the largest tehsil of the district and the largest brick production market, nearly 95 per cent of the kilns continue to operate on the outdated system, emitting highly toxic black smoke and significantly deteriorating the air quality index of the district.
The Gujar Khan brick kiln market comprises around 37 large industrial scale kilns. Of them, only seven have installed zig-zag technology, while the rest continue to operate with the dangerous traditional method.
These kilns, allegedly with the connivance of officials of the tehsil administration and the concerned inspector of the Department of Environment Protection and Climate Change, operate round the clock in double shifts. Despite producing the highest volume of bricks in the district, they have simply been issued notices to install zig-zag technology, without any effective enforcement.
Representatives of the Gujar Khan brick kiln owners association maintain that zigzag technology is prohibitively expensive and not affordable for all kiln owners.
They have demanded that the government provide soft loans on favorable terms or install the new technology itself and recover the cost in installments.
The association also confirmed that those responsible for allowing the ovens to operate day and night without zig-zag technology are “satisfied”, which implies collusion.
Residents of Gujar Khan, Fateh Jang and Attock, including Haji Sohail and Asghar Qureshi, have urged the Rawalpindi Commissionerate and Deputy Director of Environment Department to ensure installation of 100 per cent zigzag technology in all kilns. They warned that the poisonous black smoke is causing an increase in diseases in these areas.
They further demanded thorough inspection and monitoring of all brick kilns in Gujar Khan by the Deputy Director Environment and Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi.
Meanwhile, the president of the district Bar Association stated that under the new environmental protection law, all brick kilns, small and large, are legally required to install zigzag technology.
