Srinagar August 18 (KNS): A group of farmers from Rangeen Kultreh and its adjoining villages from Chadoora tehsil of Budgam on Friday protested against setting up of new brick kilns in the area on cultivable land. The aggrieved farmers said that the Pollution Control Committee of J&K gave its consent more than a year back to one brick kiln which was violating its own order as the pollution control committee Budgam had shown its resentment to set up fresh brick kilns in the area.
While speaking to press reports in Srinagar the aggrieved farmers who own apple , plum and almond orchards in the area said that no consent has been obtained from horticulture and agriculture departments.
“ We tried our best to bring this issue into notice of the District Administration Budgam. We were told that villagers have applied under land conversion and they got the permission but we were not provided the copy of the said order in spite of repeated requests. This is a public document and in the era of transparency when all the documents are being public even under RTI Act the District Administration is keeping us in the dark. Our apple farms are under threat, our health is under threat and we are not even heard. This is injustice ” said an aggrieved farmer Abdul Gani
Pertinent to mention that 20 years ago, Rangeen Kultreh village in Chadoora Budgam had no brick kilns. With the passage of time around two dozen kilns were set up between 2003 and 2012. From 2013 to 2022, the Budgam district administration and the erstwhile J&K Pollution Control Board (now known as JK Pollution Control Committee-JKPCC post 370) didn’t permit more kilns, but now they gave permission for setting up new brick kiln
According to legal experts, most kilns in Budgam or other parts of Kashmir violate the Brick Kiln Act and Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981." Unfortunately, the Pollution Control Committee does not act against them and instead it grants fresh permissions. This is an open violation of the Air Pollution Act 1981. The Director SKIMS has also warned us as there are 10,000 deaths taking place every year due to air pollution. In this scenario no fresh brick kilns should be constructed in J&K" said Badrul Duja Advocate JK High Court
“We expected the JKPCC to be stricter as it is under the Central Pollution Control Board’s administrative control. Instead, permission to set up two kilns was issued by JKPCC Member Secretary while its District Officials had given an adverse field report a few yrs back. How can the secretary override his field agencies report? We will challenge this before NGT now” said Bashir Ahmad another aggrieved person
In March this year the Air Force Station in Srinagar sent a letter to Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and DC Budgam showing its concern over brick kilns. The letter reads:
“The brick kilns operating around Air Force Station, Srinagar emit a large quantity of smoke and particulate matter. This smog has a direct adverse effect on the environment and in-flight visibility during the terminal stage of the flight. It has been noticed that during the last decade, the number of brick kilns is rapidly increasing. Increasing number of brick kilns [worsens] environmental pollution.”
“The JKPCC & District Administration Budgam have bypassed this air traffic security concern also and allowed construction of a fresh brick kiln at Kultreh village which is only 4 to 5 kms aerial distance from Srinagar airport” said Manzoor Ahmad a local resident of Kultreh.(KNS)