The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday approved the first amendment to the Uttar Pradesh Brick Kiln Establishment Site Criteria Rules-2012 to promote brick manufacturing units. The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting.
According to officials, in 2012, the Environment Department issued regulations for the first time regarding brick kilns, which established site standards for their establishment.
In 2022, the Government of India implemented regulations regarding brick kilns, according to which the state government can further tighten the site standards given in those regulations, but cannot relax them.
Dr Ravindra Pratap Singh,
Chairman, UP Pollution Control Board, said the proposed amendment will reduce the distance between a brick kiln and a residential area from 1 km to 800 meters, as per the 2022 regulations, which will allow for the establishment of more new brick kilns.
The distance between two brick kilns will be 1 km instead of 800 meters, as per the 2022 regulations.
There are approximately 4000 brick kilns that were established before 2012 but did not obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, due to which they are not considered legal.
With the implementation of the proposed amendment, these kilns will be considered legal if they can prove, through permissions/NOCs from the District Panchayat, Commercial Tax Department, Mining Department, or other departments, that they were established before 2012.
This will provide employment to approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people and ensure the availability of red bricks in sufficient quantities, providing affordable bricks to the general public for construction purposes.