Bricks are said to be the real backbone of infrastructure specially the Building construction. The brick manufacturing has been one of the oldest processes worldwide which involves the rural masses. But the rapid profitability of the business has attracted the urban businessman too who dream to earn money in lesser investment and short time thus converting this business from environmental friendly to pollution attracting. The traditional processes for brick making is obsolete now and modern and scientific methods have come up. The advent of these new processes and machineries has also forced the concerned departments like Forest, Environment and Mining to formulate the Rules and Regulations of Brick making processes starting for mining of Brick earth to end product. At times, the Environmental Activists have sought the interference of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and National Green Tribunal (NGT) and most appropriate decisions were taken to prevent the pollution caused by the brick making processes.
How the bricks are manufactured?
The brick making processes involves the mining of brick earth, moulding of earth into the shape of brick of specified dimension and its baking under controlled temperature in Brick Kiln where the Chimneys are installed for evacuation of gases.
Legal Implications
Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, pronounced the Judgement on 27.02.2012 in the case of Deepak Kumar Vs State of Haryana and Others that the Leases of Minor Minerals including their renewal for an area even less than 5 hectares has to be granted by State Government and Union Territories only after obtaining the Environmental Clearance(EC) by Ministry of Forest and Environment now known as Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change ( MOEF&CC). In order to ensure the compliance of the Verdict, the MOEF&CC issued the OM on 18.05.2012 to seek EC from concerned State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for the mining area of any dimension for Minor Minerals which includes Brick Earth too. The brick kiln manufacturers reacted to this and represented to the MOEF&CC on the plea that neither the brick mining nor the manufacture of brick really involves any environmental decay of considerable effect. Hence MOEF&CC referred the entire case to Expert Committee headed by Director, National Environmental Institute Research Institute (NEERI) which recommended for obtaining EC before any mining work or manufacture of Bricks essentially. The Committee also recommended the maximum depth of 2meter for mining of brick earth. Also the Environmental Sensitivity Criteria were also framed for getting the EC.
In a later development, in order to ease the business formalities in case of Minor Minerals, MOEF&CC published another Gazette dated 15.01.2016 diluting the power of SEIAA, paved the way for formation of District Environmental Impact Assessment Authority(DEIAA) headed by Deputy Commissioner/ District Magistrate. The Mining Plan had to be prepared by Recognized Qualified Person (RQP) and had necessarily to be approved by Concerned Mining Officer for all Minor Minerals even with less than 5 Ha areas. EC were to be granted by DEIAA after approval of Mining Plan. Prior to the operation of the brick kiln, the Lessee has to obtain the Consent to Establish (CTE) and Consent to Operate (CTO) from State Pollution Control Board.
NGT orders on complaints by Activists
In the meantime, the doors of National Green Tribunal (NGT) were again knocked by Joydeep Mukherjee against Govt. of Jharkhand(GoJ) challenging the operation of approximately 2000 Brickfields in the state without obtaining EC and CTE/CTO. He pleaded that as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has already identified brick kiln units under ‘Orange’ category in terms of pollution potential and therefore, it is mandatory that the owner/operator of the brick kiln is legally bound to take CTE/ CTO as prescribed under the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981. The GoJ informed NGT that a total of 945 brick kiln are present as per record out of which only 35 % of them do have the necessary clearances. NGT in its Order dated 15.02.2017 made it clear that the excavating Brick Earth for manufacturing bricks without obtaining EC is a violation of the provisions of EIA notification, 2006 and operating the brick kiln without obtaining consent from the State Pollution Control Board is violation of the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981 and therefore these non-complaint units have caused environmental degradation for which they are liable to compensate the loss applying the principle of ‘polluter pay’.
NGT, giving due relaxation to the Brick kiln owners, categorized the brick fields into A( with valid EC , CTE,CTO) ,B( had the Valid EC/CTE & CTO and renewal is pending),C( had the documents but now working without renewal) & D( which never obtained the Documents and manufacturing bricks all along) categories. NGT ordered to pay Rs. 1.0 lakh and Rs. 1.5 lakh to Jharkhand State pollution Control Board (JSPCB) as penalty for environmental compensation for category C and category D brick fields respectively. As a result, the JSPCB served Notices to the Brick field Owners and DEIAA started granting EC to them. But due to the lengthy and cumbersome processes for getting EC, only a few such cases were cleared and were granted EC by DEIAA. Again hearing upon another case of Satendra Pandey vs MOEF&CC and others, NGT questioned the grant of EC by DEIAA in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala and stated that all such grants in any part of India shall be treated as illegal. Though a few cases of grant of EC were reported, off late, it was decided to seize the activities of DEIAA and all pending applications of Minor Minerals have to be transferred to SEIAA at Ranchi.
Where lies the problem?
SEIAA, on the advice of NGT/ MOEF&CC, has changed the procedure and guidelines for the Brick Project/ Minor Mineral Proponents for application to get EC, which has become lengthy and costly for small Investors to adhere to. Also not a single EC has been granted for any Brickfield in the state by SEIAA till date after these modifications. Most of the cases are yet to be transferred from District Authorities to SEIAA, and even if it is transferred, then the new proposal has to be applied online for further actions with complete new set of Forms and Certificates. Getting the new Certificates from concerned Circle Officer and Divisional Forest Officer will certainly take months. Rather it became easier for a number of Owners to adopt the illegal means of manufacturing Bricks and as a result a number of such Brick kilns are reported to be in operation again at various locations setting all the rules and regulations aside. The paucity of red bricks has made the market costly for infrastructure developers and the general people constructing their homes. There is a mushroom type growth of Fly Ash Bricks in the market throughout the State as it is being sold at a price of Rs. 6 / per brick against the inflated rate of Rs. 9-10/ per red brick. The Fly ash bricks are found to be stronger than red brick. The establishment of Fly Ash Brick Industries does not need any EC/CTE/CTO as it falls under ‘White’ Category. But in all probability, it seems evident that Environmental Activists may again go to NGT or appropriate Forum for abandonment of such activities or enforcement of its earlier order.
