Traditional brick kiln is a place where bricks are made from soil collected from the surface of cultivable land and burning them with coal or wood, which causes severe damage to the environment.
But without the use of any fuel or soil, bricks are being made in Thakurgaon with the help of modern machinery using fly ash (coal burnt ash), cement, sand and pebble.
Country’s first factory of these eco-friendly brick has been set up in Thakurgaon which does not pollute the environment as no smoke is emitted while producing these bricks.
The factory has been set up under a huge tin shade in the middle of agricultural land in Shibganj Parpugi village under Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila. River sand, fly ash etc. have been stored next to the factory. The bricks are being produced there using sand and pebbles with the help of electric machines from morning t afternoon every day.
The bricks made in the brick kiln are rugged and of a few classes, but the eco-friendly bricks produced in the factory are smooth. They are of pale white colour.
Traditional bricks need plastering after building an establishment with them whereas, these new bricks can go without plastering as they are smooth looking, said the entrepreneur of this fresh initiative.
In the factory 15 to 20 thousand bricks are prepared in 8 hours. Following the production the bricks are watered up to 15-20 days. Then it can then be marketed. At present, per thousand ash bricks are being sold at Tk 8,000 to 8,500.
According to the owners of the factory, these bricks are strong, sturdy and durable. Due to its comparatively large size, the cost of this brick is less than any other type of brick.
However, some buyers are saying the opposite. Matiur Rahman, a farmer from Khagrabari village under Thakurgaon Sadar upazila said, he had bought 3,000 cement bricks to build his home. 700 out of them were broken while transporting them. Now, he says he is afraid to build the house with these bricks. Even though these bricks are called cement brick, the amount of cement is very low and they are less strong than traditional kiln made bricks, he added.
Mosharul Islam, a Production Engineer at the factory said bricks are made here with crushed stone, sand, coal ash and cement. The computer controlled ‘Vbro Molding Machine’ has a computer diagram given in it. First the mixture is mixed with 5 components in the mixture section. Then the final mixture is moved to the next section through the conveyer belt. It is gradually put into the mold and taken out of it. A certain amount of ash, sand, cement and gravel is automatically mixed. After that the bricks are made under the pressure of the machine. There is no need to burn these bricks like the traditional ones.
Razzak Group Chairman Habibur Rahman Bablu is the one who has set up the brick factory named 'Bablu Super Bricks Industry Limited'. The factory has already employed more than half a hundred local workers.
Habibul Islam said, “The government has already decided to ensure the use of eco-friendly bricks in the construction of infrastructure in the country and I was inspired to set up this factory from that. Besides, I saw ash bricks being used in India during my business trips. So, I set up a brick making factory with ash which is the first project in the country.”
The factory started producing bricks on November 19 last year. The factory's Vibro Cavity Machine can make up to 20,000 bricks every 8 hours, he added.
Executive Engineer Thakurgaon LGED Shahrul Alam Mandal said there are guidelines for implementing government plans to build infrastructure with eco-friendly bricks instead of traditional bricks. If the quality of the bricks produced in the local factory is good, their value will increase a lot.