Brick-kiln owners up in arms against govt

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 28

All brick-kiln owners here are up in arms against the Punjab government for its “autocratic” approach towards them. They rued that because of the “strictness” by government agencies and “harassment” by the police on daily basis, production in their units had come down to 25 per cent.

No policy was formed for mining of the sand used for moulding of ‘kacha’ bricks, they said. The government had stopped brick-kiln owners from getting sand either from near canals/sand-pits, they added.

The general secretary of the Ludhiana Brick Kiln Owners’ Association, Praveen Jindal, said sand was not available for moulding of ‘kacha’ bricks in kilns.

“We used to get this yellow sand from fields in areas like Malerkotla and Ahmedgarh, which was used for moulding bricks. Now, there is a complete ban on sand mining. The production is badly hit as we are not getting sand for moulding. It has come down to approximately 25 per cent,” he said.

“Secondly, the police check-posts are all over the area. We are not able to get even small trolleys of sand for moulding. The government has added the condition of environment certificate to get sand, but the procedure is, too, tedious for being easily adopted,” he added.

Another owner, wishing not to be quoted said they were regularly being harassed by policemen. “In areas, including Dehlon and Sahnewal, we have to shell-out money to cops, which is unfortunate. No committee has been formed nor has any meeting on mining of the sand used for moulding of bricks has been held by officials. Earlier, no permission was required for mining of three to four feet sand from near canals, but now it is mandatory to get clearance certificate from departments concerned. How can we work under such pressure?” asked the owner.

Brick-kiln owners said they were ready to follow the procedure provided there were clear-cut guidelines and the procedure was not cumbersome. They also complained that because of the lower production in brick-kilns, labourers had started leaving work.