INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Brick kiln workers endure suffocating heat while carrying bricks on their backs (AFP)Kathmandu, Nepal: Below
skies darkened by thick black smoke, hundreds of thousands of brick kiln workers endure back-breaking labour and suffocating heat working in
almost medieval conditions across South Asia.But in one corner of the region, the need to rebuild after Nepal's devastating 2015 earthquake
has presented an unexpected opportunity.While much work remains to be done in improving working conditions, an environmental initiative has
already managed to reduce emissions from the kilns and efforts are now focusing on rolling out the programme across the region, with
significant implications for tackling climate change.There are more than 150,000 kilns in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal belching out
thousands of tonnes of soot - known as black carbon - a major air pollutant and the second largest contributor to global warming after
carbon dioxide.The factories are stuck in a bygone era
Workers toil away in furnace-like heat in a form of modern day slavery - bonded labourers trapped by landlords in ever-spiralling debt.These
labourers are sold between landlords and the debt starts with the sum they are sold for
It grows as the workers borrow money for food, medical care, even the bricks they use to build homes on the edge of the kilns.Along with
much of Nepal, the industry was devastated by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit in 2015, killing around 9,000 people and flattening about
a third of the country's brick kilns.But despite the scale of the human tragedy, the devastation presented environmentalists with a rare
chance to clean up at least one part of the notoriously filthy industry
The brick kiln owners remain resistant to interference from labour rights groups, but they saw potential profit in working with
environmental campaigners.The Brick Kiln Initiative, launched by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD),
found a way to redesign the ovens and stack the bricks differently so that less toxic soot is produced."We wanted to do three things:
decrease emissions, increase efficiency and make the kilns earthquake-resistant," said Bidya Banmali Pradhan, programme coordinator for the
initiative.The problem is acute, with industrial soot emissions from the region having a worldwide impact.South Asia has the highest such
emissions in the world, according to a NASA study
The soot collects on the Arctic ice, decreasing the earth's ability to reflect the sun's rays and contributing to warming globally.Higher
temperatures are affecting global weather patterns and have disrupted South Asia's annual monsoon rains, with some areas left at risk of
drought while others suffer deadly deluges.In 2017, more than 1,200 people died across South Asia in the worst monsoon floods to hit the
region in years.Black carbon has also exacerbated the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, which have shrunk by nearly a quarter between
the late 1970s and 2010, according to a study.And the soot belched from the coal-powered kilns is also a major source of the toxic soup of
pollutants that has given many South Asian cities the unwanted accolade of having among the worst air quality in the world. Zig-zag
stacking By stacking the bricks inside the kilns in a zig-zag pattern, the heat snakes through the gaps more efficiently, ensuring coal is
completely burned so less soot is produced.Emissions are cut by 60 percent
But more importantly for the kiln owners, it nearly halves coal consumption."The environmental factor does not necessarily motivate most
kiln owners, but the zig-zag method has an economic benefit
We are using less coal and getting better bricks faster," said Mahendra Chitrakar, president of the Federation of Nepal Brick
Industries.Most of the 100 brick kilns in the Kathmandu valley have already adopted the new technology, according to Chitrakar."We had to
rebuild, so we thought why not build a more scientific, environmentally friendly structure," said brick kiln owner Raj Kumar Lakhemaru."Now
The bricks are better and I am spending a lot less on coal."The next step is to spread the technology
Brick manufacturers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan met in Kathmandu this year to discuss the new design.But activists say while
the environmental changes are positive, conditions for kiln workers have not improved.On the edge of Kathmandu, sweaty bare-footed workers
hack away at the grey clay and haul heavy loads of bricks to the cavernous kilns.Most live in shacks around the factories
As bonded labourers, the next generation of workers are literally born into the industry and many start work as children.There are more than
200,000 kiln workers in Nepal and 16 percent of them are children, according to Better Brick Nepal, which is campaigning for better
conditions."We have to clean the brick industry from not just an environmental perspective but also a human one," said the charity's head
Homraj Acharya.And on that issue, he added, the Nepal earthquake has not yet cracked the factory owners' hardline opposition to
change.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
