DoE Intensifies Campaign Against Environmental Pollution

During this period, the mobile courts filed 1,663 cases against individuals and organizations, resulting in fines totaling over Tk 24.9 crore. The charges ranged from excessive black smoke emissions, illegal brick kilns, steel mills contributing to air pollution, noise pollution, and hazardous waste discharge, to illegal lead/battery recycling factories, landfilling of water bodies, and the open storage of construction materials causing air pollution.

Key actions included the demolition of 438 chimneys of illegal brick kilns, effectively halting their operations. Additionally, stern orders were issued to close 210 brick kilns, and raw bricks from 124 kilns were destroyed. Electricity connections were cut off for seven brick kilns, and one individual received a one-month imprisonment sentence.

In a crackdown on lead pollution, equipment used for smelting lead batteries was seized from seven factories, resulting in their closure.

DoE Drives in Seven Districts: Tk 17.18 Lakh in Fines

On April 10, 2025, six mobile court operations were conducted in Dhaka’s Gulshan-1 & 2, Matuail, Aminbazar, Mohammadpur, and Narayanganj areas. These drives targeted air pollution from construction materials and resulted in five cases and fines totaling Tk 2.59 lakh.

In Aminbazar, an illegal lead-acid battery smelting factory was dismantled, and smelting equipment was confiscated. In Gazipur, authorities issued a warning to an individual for filling a water body and instructed them to restore the pond within five days. Similarly, mobile court actions in Manikganj and Dinajpur led to the demolition of a brick kiln chimney, destruction of raw bricks, and severing the electricity connections of six kilns, with fines totaling Tk 1.9 lakh.

Commitment to Ongoing Anti-Pollution Efforts

The DoE has emphasized its ongoing commitment to combating pollution and will continue its mobile court operations in the future to ensure environmental protection.