Brick is a chief building material used in Nepal. Bricks are made of clay as it is the most abundant source of potential brick materials.
Besides exposure to air pollutants generated by burning of fuel during the baking process of bricks, the workers and their families are also exposed to the indoor air pollution. The majority of the workers at the brick kilns migrate from their home village to the brick kilns. They live in a small hut made of bricks with small ventilation and is very congested. They prepare meals inside the huts using traditional cookstoves and lives there which puts them in a risky zone as they inhale those polluted air and chances are high of getting ill.
Brick Kilns of Nepal has been listed as one of the main reasons for air pollution as it emits smoke in an enormous amount. With the increase in the population, construction sector has taken its peak resulting in more brick demands. With this increasing demand of brick is resulting in more establishment of brick kilns which is hampering the overall environment of the country as well.
Among many brick kilns is Uma Brick Kiln that is located at Kirtipur. This brick kiln was established around at 2055 B.S. Since then this kiln was working to make bricks. But in recent years with the increase in the number of houses around that klin has created some issues in that area. People started to build houses around the area and as the society increased they started complaining about the air pollution they were facing and also about the health relation issues that they might face due to the brick kiln. So with all the complains from the society the decision of closing the brick kiln was given by the government. From that period the people who were working there are in the poor status as they lost their job. People working in the brick kiln are directly dependent upon that work. Due to this reason they have lost the source of income. While we visited the brick kiln they told us about their stories and how they have been struggling for jobs. Our team who went to study about the situation has briefly described about the scenario of that brick kiln as well. So after the field study and identifying the needs of that place the team decided to support them with cloths and rations. The cloths that we distributed were the used but wearable clothes which people kept for donation.
