The Kashmir valley is one of the best place on the mother earth as it has been bestowed by the Almighty Allah with beautiful and fascinating water bodies, rich fertile soils, snow clad mountains, Lush green forests and meadows, pleasant and invigorating climate etc. The District Budgam one of the key districts of Jammu and Kashmir has been also bestowed with rich natural resources and scenic beauty. The majority of population of the district Budgam depends on the agriculture. The rich fertile soils and perennial water bodies are important factors of agriculture. The rich and dense orchards are stretching almost in all villages that contribute not only to the economy of people but also to the wellness of the environment. However, the agriculture and Horticulture sector in majority of villages in district Budgam have been receiving a setback regarding growth and production due to increasing pollution from mushrooming growth of brick kilns for the past one decade. Apple trees, vegetables and paddy fields are continuously getting deteriorated due to the smoke, black soot and lethal gases coming from the nearby brick kilns. The gaseous pollutants from brick kilins affect the health of plants and trees and may decrease plant and tree growth due to decreasing photosynthesis that are adding woes to the farmers who are dependent on agriculture for livelihood. The rich natural resources like fertile soil, clean air, crystal water have been polluted at an alarming rate in bricklin areas and the gravity of air pollution is such that visibility in fields and villages has been much reduced and one who visits to agriculture or horticulture field is returning home with sprinkled black soot all over the body. The brick kilns have degraded the land due illegal land cutting with excavators by brick kiln owners for soil and has resulted into a lot of soil erosion besides, turned the fertile land into barren land unsuitable for growing crops. Brick kilns have also resulted soil and water pollution due to the leakage of toxins and other materials. The same polluted water is unfit for drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, construction, and the soil contaminated is unusable for cultivation of crops. Many fresh water springs, irrigation canals got extinct and most water bodies in the district will soon become extinct if unregulated growth of brick kilns will not be regulated on war footing basis by the concerned authorities.
The thick column of black smoke and harmful gases like Sulphur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide emanating from chimneys of brick kilns are very harmful for the environment, flora and fauna due to rising global warming and climate change. The air pollution from brick kilns is causing headaches, fatigue, dizziness, respiratory problems, eye irritation, chest pain, cardiovascular and lung diseases, bronchitis, premature mortality, and other problems. Respiratory problem due to air pollution is very common especially among children and elderly people. Many elderly people die every year due to chest diseases resulting from air pollution. The district Budgam is witnessing hundreds of Brick Kilns established for the past two decades and the process continues due to various reasons especially poor implementation of environmental protection laws, lack of action by the pollution control board and other concerned authorities etc.
The brick kilns running in Budgam are very traditional as all are using traditional bull trench technology instead of eco-friendly zigzag technology. In traditional bull trench technology conventional biomass and firewood etc is used as fuel. The use of conventional fuels is very hazardous to the environment due their more pollution compared to quality fuels. Eco friendly zig zag technology uses quality fuels that are cost effective and not hazardous to the environment. Brick kiln owners are very negligent to adopt the eco-friendly new technology and are sticking to traditional technology due to their materialistic greed. Unregulated growth of brick kilns in district Budgam particular and other districts in general have also deteriorated the ambient air quality of the Jammu and Kashmir. Majority of Brick kilns are functioning without environmental clearances and licenses and new brick kilns are getting green signals from administration without thinking their hazardous effects on innocent human lives, flora and fauna, water bodies, soils, clean air etc. There are number of ways by which brick kilns can be regulated. First and foremost is the education and awareness among people through seminars, campaigns, debates, discussions regarding the importance of pollution free clean environment for all living organisms, agriculture and horticulture sector etc. Strict Implementation of environmental protection laws and Jammu and Kashmir Brick kilns Regulation Act 2010, permission from concerned deputy Commissioner, monitoring of pollution by pollution control board, installation of pollution monitoring instruments, strict rules for getting environmental clearance and licenses for establishing brick kilns, securing no objection certificates from various departments like forest, agriculture, health and education besides permission from the NGO’S, Civil society and Heads of villages. Let’s join hands together to fight for unregulated growth of brick kilns and save the environment from pollutions for the healthy lives, economy and future.
(The author is a teacher at Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwah Budgam. Views are his own)
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