PM urges eco-friendly brick production to curb air pollution

He issued the directive while chairing a meeting on environmental pollution at his Tejgaon office in Dhaka, Prime Minister's Assistant Press Secretary Gazi Shahriar Pamy said.

The meeting reviewed a series of measures to tackle air and noise pollution, with particular focus on emissions from brick kilns, one of the country's major sources of air pollution.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to accelerate the adoption of alternative, environment-friendly technologies in brick manufacturing to reduce pollution and improve air quality.

The meeting also discussed measures to curb excessive use of vehicle horns in the capital. Tarique instructed law enforcement agencies to strictly enforce existing regulations against unnecessary honking.

Participants also explored the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, similar to AI-powered traffic cameras, to detect and monitor unnecessary horn use and strengthen enforcement.

To improve urban air quality further, the Prime Minister directed the authorities to swiftly remove unfit, expired and highly polluting buses, trucks and other vehicles from Dhaka's roads.

He also instructed the relevant agencies to install automatic traffic signal systems at at least 50 additional intersections across the capital as soon as possible to improve traffic management and reduce congestion.

The meeting was attended by Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo, State Minister Shaikh Faridul Islam, State Minister for Water Resources Forhad Hossain Azad, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Affairs Dr Md Saimum Parvez, administrators of Dhaka North and South City Corporations, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) Md Anisur Rahman, and senior officials from the relevant ministries and agencies.