However, brick manufacturers think that adopting other forms of kiln technology could reduce the brick quality and overall productivity.
Hakahaki Report
Kathmandu, February 16: Brick kilns rank among the most notorious sources of pollution in South Asia, emitting thick black smoke filled with carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and particulate matter such as black carbon.
But if the experts are to be believed, the region could reduce the impact with the installation of zigzag kilns.
However, brick manufacturers think that adopting other forms of kiln technology could reduce the brick quality and overall productivity.
But brick manufacturers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan got together this week in Kathmandu to exchange ideas and practices about the design and construction of zigzag kilns – a new configuration that produces high quality bricks at lower costs, with fewer harmful emissions and are also more earthquake resistant.
Currently, the Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kiln (FCBTK) is the most common design of brick kiln and it contributes significantly to poor air quality that adversely impact human health and vegetation.
At the three-day meet jointly organized by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Federation of Nepal Brick Industries (FNBI), the manufacturers discussed means to convert existing FCBTKs to zigzag kilns.
The participants also visited and examined zigzag kilns in Bhaktapur, Dhading, and Biratnagar to gain first-hand experience and testimony from current operators, ICIMOD said in a press release.
The conference was organized as part of ICIMOD’s DFID-funded Brick Kiln Initiative to help rebuild Nepal’s brick sector after the earthquake of April 2015, according to Bidya Banmali Pradhan, the program coordinator of ICIMOD.
She says the initiative has achieved much success in a short period. “We are encouraged to learn that progressive brick entrepreneurs in Nepal have converted their FCBTKs to zigzag kilns,” she said. “We’ve been working hard to spread the word about improved zigzag kiln designs and facilitating exposure visits for interested brick entrepreneurs from the region and beyond.”
Mahendra Bahadur Chitrakar, the FNBI President, said the brick kiln idea spread from India to Nepal and now Nepal is moving to share this technology with the region. “We adapted (the zigzag kiln) to our context and further developed it.”
There are about 138,000 brick kilns in South Asia, according to Chitrakar. “We have decided to form a Federation of Asian Brick Kiln Associations to address multiple challenges, including growing environmental and health concerns through regional cooperation and collaboration.”
ICIMOD’s deputy director general, Eklabya Sharma, reiterated his institution’s dedication to improving air quality in South Asia through initiatives like these. “Emissions from brick kilns are having adverse effects on the mountains far away and people living downstream,” he said. |The challenge is to modernize South Asia’s brick sector through reductions in costs and emissions.”
