Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury on Tuesday said legal action has already been taken against 458 illegal brick kilns till March 10 as part of the ministry's 100 working-day action plan. 

“Of these 458 brick kilns, 209 have been shut down,” he told a meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat here aiming to review the implementation progress of the 100-day priority action plan of his ministry.

Saber Hossain said using brick kiln tracker, the campaign against polluting by brick kilns will continue to check air pollution in the country, including Dhaka city.

Due to the use of technology, he said, the officials concerned will not have the opportunity to choose brick kilns as per their own choice.

The environment minister directed the officials concerned to continue to take legal measures against some construction firms, transport and factories those are polluting environment.

He also asked the officials to announce the revised road map for the use of 100 percent blocks in government construction and take necessary measures, including communicating with the concerned departments, to provide financial incentives to the entrepreneurs who are producing blocks.

During the meeting, Saber Hossain wanted to know the details from the concerned officials about the progress of various initiatives, including single-use plastic free declaration, online ETP monitoring, EPR guidelines and formulation of National Waste Management Framework.

He instructed the officials for timely implementation of the priority programmes to fulfill the ministry's commitment to the country’s people.

Environment Secretary Dr Farhina Ahmed, Additional Secretary (Administration) of the ministry Iqbal Abdullah Harun, Additional Secretary (Environment) Dr Fahmida Khanom, Director General of the Department of Environment (DoE) Dr Abdul Hamid and Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury were, among others, present at the meeting.