Brick Kilns in Khulna’s Dumuria: United they kill rivers
Rows of unbaked bricks and large holes dug for brick processing in a grabbed part of the Bhadra river near Kharnia bridge in Dumuria upazila of Khulna. Several local influential people, including elected public representatives, run brick kilns that have occupied the land of the river. The photo was taken recently. Photo: Collected
The Bhadra, once a free-flowing river in Khulna's Dumuria upazila, has been turned into a narrow canal over the years, thanks to encroachment by brick kilns run by local influentials, including elected representatives.
A report prepared by Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) Khulna last December listed nine brick kilns, including those operated by a lawmaker and chairmen of a upazila and a union parishad, on a four-kilometre stretch on one bank of the Bhadra in Kharnia union.