Tripura Closes Brick Kilns

Tripura State Pollution Control Board chairman BK Agarwal on Thursday said that the state government has shut down all the 350 brick kilns in the State after they failed to obtain environmental clearances.

The decision comes in the wake of a recent High Court order in this regard.

"As per the July 3 Tripura High Court order prohibiting brick kilns from operating without environmental clearances, we have shut down all the brick kilns in the State as they do not possess the necessary certificates," Agarwal said.

The brick kiln owners, however, can submit fresh applications at their respective district magistrate offices from Friday onwards, after meeting the requisite environmental criteria, he said.

Agarwal said the department officials will then conduct a fresh inspection of the kilns and send the reports to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.