Govt urged to replace brick use with concrete blocks
“Country produces around 17.2 billion pieces of baked bricks annually and it takes burning of 240 tons of coal to produce one million pieces of bricks”
UNB
Speakers in a seminar in the capital yesterday urged the government to halt production and use of baked bricks in infrastructure and road construction works by 2020, and start using brick-substitute concrete blocks, reports UNB.
They said concrete blocks are more durable and environment-friendly compared to baked bricks. They were speaking at the seminar on Using concrete blocks as the substitute of baked bricks organised by Nagar Unnayan Journalists Forum held at CIRDAP Auditorium. Presenting a keynote, Bangladesh Ready-mix Concrete Association President, Md. Abdul Awal, said currently the country produces around 17.2 billion pieces of baked bricks annually and it takes burning of 240 tons of coal to produce one million pieces of bricks. He said the brick production has serious effect on agricultural land as it needs the top soil in the production process as well as begets huge environmental damage.
Identifying concrete blocks as the alternative to baked bricks, Awal said the alternate building blocks can reduce environment pollution.
Making concrete blocks does not need burning coal and these are enduring, healthier and environmentally friendly. He also stressed to stop the use of bricks in all government and semi-official construction works immediately as well as to stop using baked bricks in all divisional cities, including Dhaka by 2020 and in upazila towns by 2022.
Tawfique Ali, who is also a member of the host organisation, said government promised to hire building construction monitoring officer to guard the implementation of Bangladesh National Building Code-2006 that had suggested stopping use of baked bricks. He said the High Court had also asked the government to create a building authority for the purpose. However, no visible action has been taken in this regard by the government, he alleged.
Addressing the programme, Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain recognised the use of baked bricks as a problem and threat for the environment. He said the heavy duty imposed on concrete and stone imports should be lowered as these are the raw materials for concrete block production.
