Government will close all illegal brick kilns: Minister Jogen Mohan

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan informed the State Assembly today that the government would close all illegal brick kilns in the State shortly.

BJP MLA Paramanda Rajbongshi raised the issue during the Zero Hour and said that Sipajhar LAC had many illegal brick kilns. He requested the Government to take action against the illegal brick kilns.

Responding to the issue, Minister Jogen Mohan said, “According to a government notification issued in 2001, no one can set up brick kilns on arable land. If anyone wants to set up brick kilns on such lands, he has to get the land reclassified as industrial land. He will have to pay the revenues as per the rules. He will also have to get a no-objection certificate from the Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) to set up brick kilns. Brick kilns are also not allowed within a 500-meter radius of any school. The chimneys of brick kilns should be permanent. The brick kiln owners have to pay the revenue to the government for the manufacture of bricks, including land tax.”

He further said, “The deputy commissioners will conduct field visits to identify illegal brick kilns. They will close the brick kilns that run with blatant disregard for the rules. I issue a directive to the deputy commissioners from the floor of the Assembly to conduct field visits to identify illegally run brick kilns and close them. The deputy commissioners can take help from circle officers to identify such brick kilns. If they do not get proper documents, they should close the brick kilns and report it to the government. No brick kiln can indulge in child labour.”

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