Brick kiln owners and workers at Savar blocked the Dhaka鈥揂richa Highway on Wednesday, protesting against the ongoing government crackdown on illegal kilns in the area.
Savar, on the outskirts of the Dhaka city, has recently been declared a 鈥榙egraded air shed鈥� due to dangerously high pollution levels in the area.
The demonstration by nearly a hundred brick kiln owners and workers began at about 11:00am near the Bhanga Bridge area.
Traffic in both directions came to a standstill, with a congestion stretching nearly 10 kilometres, witnesses said.
Long-distance buses, cargo trucks, private cars and ambulances remained stuck for more than one hour.
Savar highway police station officer-in-charge Saleh Ahmed said that the blockade was withdrawn after 12:00pm following assurances that the kiln owners鈥� representatives would be allowed to hold discussions with government officials on their demand.
The protest followed similar demonstrations on Tuesday against coordinated drives by district authorities and the Department of Environment targeting kilns operating without compliance.
Owners and workers said that abrupt shutdowns had caused heavy financial losses and left thousands of labourers without income.
鈥極ur families are suffering. Without work, it is impossible to run our households,鈥� said Abu Sayed, a worker who joined the protest.
Atik Mollah, who has come from Satkhira district to work at a Savar brick kiln, said that demonstrators would continue their movement until the closed brick kilns were allowed to resume operations.
鈥業f the kilns are shut down instantly, the government must rehabilitate us,鈥� he added.
Owners demanded permission to continue operating until the 2025鈥�26 season, arguing that they had already invested in labour and raw materials.
They also cited a previous court directive they claim authorities were not following.
Savar Model police station officer-in-charge Jewel Mia said that the police had talked to the protesters and that officials from the DoE would join discussions.
The tensions come after the Department of Environment on August 17 designated the entire Savar upazila as a 鈥榙egraded air shed鈥�, citing air quality readings nearly three times above the national annual limit.
The DoE said that pollution generated at Savar spilled over into the Dhaka city during dry-season wind flows, aggravating the capital鈥檚 already severe smog and posing significant health risks to its dense population.
Under the designation, all pollution-causing activities, including brick production in all kilns except tunnel and hybrid Hoffman types, open burning of solid waste and new environmental clearances for high-pollution industries, are banned until further notice.
DoE officials earlier said that Savar hosted 107 brick kilns, but only two currently used environmentally compliant technology.
