Bricks

The United Nations Development Program reckons there are about 6000 brick kilns dotted around the Bangladesh countryside. These produce an important building resource for the country and for the fast developing capital of Dhaka. However, it comes at a high price to the environment and to the thousands of workers who labour in the brick fields. Anyone who has spent time in Dhaka will know all about the hundreds of tall chimneys that surround the city and belch smoke into the atmosphere, doing nothing for the air quality, nor for the health of the workers, most of who come from small villages across the country. In fact, the World Bank suggests that brick making accounts for about 40 percent of Dhaka’s fine-particle air pollution. While things are starting to look up with the introduction of modern brick making technologies it will take a long time to see tangible change in this very old industry.

Typical industrial landscape on the outskirts of Dhaka. Most of the kilns are built in low lying areas subject to flooding so they only operate during the drier months of the year

The raw material, silt, is deposited by the myriad river channels that dissect this delta country. As the water recedes at the end of the wet season, teams of workers load the deposited silt onto boats and transport it to the brick kilns.

Loading silt onto boats for transport to the brick kilns.

Silt is stockpiled at the kiln before mixing with water to enable the forming of the bricks

This very labour intensive industry relies on thousands of workers to turn the silt into fired bricks. The silt is mixed with water and then formed into individual bricks using a mould.

The bricks are dried in the sun

Once sun dried, the bricks are placed in the huge kilns and fired. Coal or wood is used for firing. These workers keep the fires burning at the required temperature by continually stoking the fires under each of the steel caps shown- a hot, dusty and dirty business.

The finished product surrounds the kilns

The finished product surrounds the kilns while the smoke continues....

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