The Sundargarh Collector gave his nod to closure of as many as 38 brick kiln units in the district on Friday. These units have allegedly been running illegally and not taken necessary clearances.
The regional office of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) had conducted an inspection of the units in March last and recommended closure of the 38 units. These units, located in lathikata, Rajgagnpur, Bisra and Kuanrmunda blocks, have been functioning without having ‘consent to operate’ from the SPCB. According to sources, Sundargarh Collector Bhupinder Singh Punia on Friday ordered the closure proposal of the SPCB Rourkela office.
Significantly, the State Government banned production of red bricks
since these units are causing high pollution and giving clearance for coming up of more number of fly ash brick units. Sundargarh, being an industrially developed district, as many as 85 red brick units are functional.