India proposes more stringent emission norms for brick kilns

The Union environment ministry has proposed an amendment that seeks to lay down a uniform emission standard for particulate matter of 250 milligrams per cubic metre (mg/ Nm3) for all brick kilns across the country.

Under the current regulations, the standard ranges from 2501200 mg/Nm3.

Brick kilns contribute significantly to particulate matter pollution in the Indo-Gangetic plain, which has the highest concentration of brick kilns. Brick kilns are found clustered around big metros like Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Patna feeding a construction boom.

Experts, however, said lowering the standard to 250 mg/Nm3 for all kilns is a good step, but more has to be done.

“It has taken them nine years to revise the standards. They should examine and change them every five years,” Sameer Maithel, director of Greentech Knowledge Solutions Pvt Ltd, a clean energy research and advisory firm, said.

In December 2017, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) gave brick kilns operating in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) till June 2018 to meet standards or face closure.

New kilns across India will have to use the zigzag technology, which relies on an arrangement of the bricks to force the air to follow a zig-zag path, leading to more efficient fuel combustion and lower emissions.

The brick kilns that have not converted yet will have to submit an affidavit to EPCA that they will start using the new technology by September. There are around 2,000 brick kilns operating in Delhi and the NCR, according to official estimates.

No such direction is in place for brick kilns in other parts of the country. However, the apex regulator asked state pollution control boards to close the kilns that were not meeting existing standards.

NEW DELHI: