At least 42 of the 100 brickfields across the eight upazilas of the district are operating illegally.

Of these, eight brickfields set up in the Hajiganj, Shahrasti, and Matlab upazilas have been running illegally and in violation of government rules since 2012.  This was confirmed by Chandpur Environment Directorate deputy director AHM Rashed. On January 20, four such illegal brickfields in the Hajiganj and Shahrasti upazilas were demolished following the orders of a mobile court of the Environment Directorate. The brickfield owners were fined a total of Tk 44 lakhs for flouting government rules.

The demolished brickfields were M/s Kamal Bricks, M/S Bashiruddin Bricks, and M/s Roni Bricks in Hajiganj upazila and M/s Abdul Ghani Bricks in Shahrasti upazila, the mobile court's executive magistrate Kazi Tanjim Ahmed revealed.

The owners were fined Tk. 6 lakh each. However, the owner of M/s Abdul Ghani Bricks in Shahrasti has to pay an additional Tk. 20 lakh after settling an ongoing court case related to the illegal brickfield. The executive magistrate noted that all these brickfields had been functioning illegally and without any valid documents since 2012. Time and again, the owners had been warned by the Environment Directorate, but they turned a deaf ear to the warning notices.

The brickfields were demolished on Monday morning through the orders of a mobile court. Firefighters, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the local police force, and the upazila administration extended their full cooperation in this regard. AHM Rashed was present during the mobile court proceedings. He said legal action would be taken against all illegal brickfields in a systematic manner.

Asked when the next round of demolitions would take place, Rashed said: “'We have a plan. But due to fund constraints, we cannot arrange for mobile courts right away. We would have to hire an excavator costing Tk. 35,000 per day and there are additional expenses related to organising a mobile court in the fields.”