RAHIM YAR KHAN: Only four out of 350 brick kilns have been converted to eco-friendly zigzag technology in the district, contrary to the claims of the officials who say that all kilns have been converted to the new technology in the district.

Experts and stakeholders term lack of interest by the district administration and the Environment Protection Department (EPD), unavailability of technical labour, costly electricity and diesel and non-provision of support amount by the government as the main factors behind the slow rate of conversion to the new technology.

According to business experts, the brick kiln sector in Punjab is the most unregulated and non-registered industrial sector and conventional brick kilns are causing immense pollution through their emissions that also cause smog that blanket most of Punjab in winters.

The efforts of the Punjab government to convert kilns to zigzag technology have been going on since 2017 but it faced many challenges. A kiln running on the zigzag technology emits 60pc less carbon emissions and increases savings for kiln owners by 30pc. On the other hand, a traditional kiln brick firing technology is ranked as the most contaminating technique for brick production.

Only four out of 350 brick kilns in RYK converted to eco-friendly technology

The traditional kilns result in adverse environmental effects, including air pollution, climate change, cardio-respiratory diseases, land-use impacts and deforestation.

District Brick Kiln Association (DBKA) President Arif Warraich and General Secretary Chaudhry Asif say there are approximately 350 brick kilns in the district, 45 in tehsil Liaqatpur, 80 in Khanpur, 100 in Sadiqabad and 125 in RYK. They say conversion to zigzag technology is not an easy process as traditional brick kiln owners are reluctant to adopt the modern technology due to lack of experience and resources. They say that the government gives orders to shift to the zigzag technology but it does not provide awareness to the brick kiln owners.

Warraich argues that there is power loadshedding also and the kiln owners can’t afford diesel generators to run the blowers. He claims that the government had promised to give Rs1m to each kiln owner to shift to the zigzag technology and it had also received applications but nothing happened after that. He adds that 100 brick kilns are operational only on blowers, which control the 50pc smoke but it could not be called zigzag that’s why the Environment Protection Department registers cases and impose heavy fines on the kilns.

Warraich claims that he had raised the issue repeatedly with the district administration officials in different meetings and gave his suggestions.

EPD Assistant Director Aamir Rehmani gives the total number of brick kilns in the district as 298, claiming that all were converted to the zigzag technology in 2021 but kiln owners change their practice from time to time, violating the zigzag standard operating procedures (SOPs). However, the EPD is continuously taking action against the violators, he claims.

According to Rehmani, a Rs3.2m fine was imposed on the brick kiln owners in 2023. Regarding smog, he says emissions of vehicles, crop stubble burning, industrial units operational without pollution control devices and brick kilns without zigzag SOPs and dust are also the reasons for increase in smog levels.

In 2021, the then federal government claimed that all 8,147 conventional kilns of Punjab had been converted to modern technology.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA) provided the technical assistance to kiln owners and the drive was also supported by the Punjab Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

According to the PDMA’s data of 2021, there are a total of 8,147 brick kilns in the whole Punjab out of which only 7,986 are functional and 161 are non-operational.

Later at the start of 2022, the Federal Ministry of Climate Change claimed that all the 11,000 traditional brick kilns running on smog-causing fossil fuels in Punjab had been converted to the zigzag technology within six months. However, these figures are contradictory to the independent sources claims.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2024