Brick kilns asked to adopt zig zag technology by July 27

Kolkata: The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has made it clear to the brick kilns across the state that they should adopt zig zag technology by July 27 for cutting down pollution otherwise the PCB would have no other alternative but to close down the violating ones. It was on January 28 when the National Green Tribunal had directed the state PCB to shut down the brick kilns that continue to run with the existing technology which causes reasonably high pollution.

Senior officials of WBPCB including its Chairman Kalyan Rudra and Member Secretary Rajesh Kumar held a meeting with more than 25 association members of brick kilns across the state at the office of state PCB on Friday and reminded them of the ultimatum of the NGT.

As per database of the state PCB, there are 4506 brick kilns across the state among which 2600 has already adopted zig zag technology. However, the NGT is of the opinion that there are more than 9000 kilns . "We are urging the kilns that have been running illegally to apply to us to seek consent for operation. We will examine their infrastructure and if found fit we will regularise them," said a senior PCB official.

The meeting was attended by officials of WEBEL who are ready with the technology to extend assistance to the brick fields.

The brick kilns across the state are spread across various districts of Bengal that includes North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Purulia, Birbhum, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly to name a few. More than 6 lakh people in the state earn a living through these the brick kilns.

An official in the PCB said that the quality of bricks will be much better with the adoption of zig zag technology. In zigzag kilns, bricks are arranged to allow hot air to travel in a zigzag

path.

The length of the zigzag air path is about three times that of a straight line, and this improves the heat transfer from the flue gases to the bricks, making the entire operation more efficient. In addition, better mixing of air and fuel allows complete combustion, reducing coal consumption to about 20 per cent.

The average cost of installing the technology is around Rs 5 lakhs which goes up if the size of the kiln is bigger. The association may seek further time from NGT citing the lockdown for compliance with the latter's order.