LAHORE: The Punjab Environment Protection Department (EPD) has directed all brick kiln owners to ensure complete conversion of kilns to zigzag technology in a month, sources told Dawn on Monday.

A meeting was held to review the progress on the conversion of old technology brick kilns to zigzag technology and other smog-related issues.

The meeting learned that smog was a regional phenomenon mainly fueled by: local and cross border pollution stemming from the burning of agriculture residue, old brick kilns, and steel furnaces/mills of Lahore, Sheikhupura, and Gujranwala; industries having boilers and using sub-standard fuel; vehicular pollution; burning of solid waste plastic material and other sub-standard fuel; poor cleanliness arrangements on roads; dust pollution from construction activities and high sulfur content diesel from refineries.

Moreover, the phenomenon is due to the presence of high concentrations of suspended particulate matter, moisture, low temperature, calm wind conditions, and the inversion effect.

EPD Director Nasimur Rehman told Dawn that brick kilns were the major contributor of air pollution. The EPD Punjab started its struggle some two decades back in collaboration with the All Pakistan Brick Kilns Owners Association to address the brick kilns pollution.

He said different options were tested in the past like the installation of vertical shaft brick Kiln in Islamabad and Indian technology brick kiln in Attock but no viable solution could be explored. The brick industries used to be considered an informal sector in Pakistan and were grappling with a number of inherent environmental and social issues.

More than 90 per cent of the bricks used to be produced by the indigenous fixed chimney bull’s trench kilns (FCBTK). He said the All Pakistan Brick Kilns Association office-bearers and representative of the EPA visited Nepal and examined the working of zigzag brick kilns.

The association found this zigzag method was very close to the existing bull trench kilns. Therefore, they constructed one such kiln in Lahore with their own financial resources. The Punjab EPA lab checked the kiln and found it quite better than the old technology kiln. International Centre for Integrated Mountain experts lso verified reduction of emissions by more than 70 per cent, reduction of fuel up to 30 per cent, baking of bricks in less than half a period than the old technology kiln.

“Zigzag bakes one million bricks in 10 days while Bull Trench of the same capacity takes 40 to 60 days,” he added.

The production of zigzag kiln is four to five times speedier than the bull trench.

Mr Rehman said an environment commission, headed by Dr Parvez Hassan, played a key role in the sanctioning of loans from the State Bank of Pakistan for the conversion of old technology brick kilns to zigzag methodology. The commission also sensitized other provinces for the adoption of this technology during its meetings at Quetta, Karachi, and Peshawar.

He said the conversion of the technology would be expedited and blowers has been installed in 7,986 brick kilns in Punjab.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2021