Close to 500 illegal brick kilns have quietly spread across the Boko-Chaygaon Co-District in Kamrup, raising serious concerns about environmental damage, public health, and large-scale revenue loss to the state government.
The kilns — locally known as Banglabhata — have sprung up in Haribhanga, Ghilabari, Bamunbari, and surrounding villages, with more reported in areas under the Nagarbera and Chamaria revenue circles.
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The offices of both the Boko and Samaria revenue circles had issued warnings against the illegal kilns. Yet construction continued without interruption.
Civil society groups have expressed sharp concern over what they describe as a wall of silence from the district administration, the Pollution Control Board, and local police — all of whom have jurisdiction to act but have largely failed to do so.
The financial cost of this inaction is significant. Legal brick kilns are required to pay 12 per cent GST along with land royalty — one licensed chimney kiln owner in Boko confirmed paying approximately Rs 12 lakh in GST and royalty this year alone.
Illegal kilns pay none of this. With nearly 500 such operations running across the area, each producing between 5 and 10 lakh bricks per firing cycle, the revenue being siphoned away from the state exchequer runs into crores.
The environmental and health toll is equally serious. These kilns burn wood, coal, crop soil, and tree fragments, releasing thick smoke over residential areas.
Locals report a rise in respiratory illnesses among residents living near the kilns, while ash fallout is causing skin ailments. The large-scale removal of fertile topsoil for brick-making is also reducing agricultural productivity and damaging local vegetation.
In one telling incident on February 8, officers from the Mandira police outpost under Boko police station — led by officer Rewat Saikia — attempted to demolish illegal kilns in Haribhanga.
They were met with obstruction from a group of locals, some of whom allegedly attempted to attack the police. The incident has prompted concerned citizens to urge the government to take firmer and more sustained action against the illegal operations.
Perhaps what has frustrated Boko residents most is an apparent inconsistency in enforcement. On February 13, Chamaria revenue circle officer Nandan Nilutpal Bhagawati sealed two licensed kilns — BKB and NKB — for failing to renew documents with the Pollution Control Board.
Citizens are now asking an uncomfortable question: why is the administration penalising legal kilns over paperwork, while hundreds of unlicensed, openly polluting Banglabhata kilns continue to operate without consequence?
The forest department, Pollution Control Board, and district administration have yet to offer a public response.