Category: Bihar

HC rebukes Bihar Govt for victimising IAS officer for acting against transport mafia

Source: dailypioneer.com

The Delhi High Court rebuked the Bihar Government on Tuesday for ‘humiliating, harassing and victimising’ an IAS officer who took a tough stand against the transport mafia despite threats to his life.

The court directed the central government to initiate inter-cadre transfer of the 2013-batch IAS officer Jitendra Gupta forthwith and issue the order to shift him out of Bihar cadre, completing the process within four weeks.

It also ordered the state to pay Rs 5 lakh to the officer as compensation within four weeks along with other dues, saying the court cannot undo the harm done to him but the amount awarded would apply some balm to his wounds.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jyoti Singh said if the court failed to protect a man who had the nerve to stand up against the mafia and the state machinery, they would be doing great disservice to the system and setting a bad precedent, where no officer would gather courage take on the wrongdoers.

Gupta, who was represented through senior advocate Sachin Datta and lawyer Sourabh Ahuja, had sought transfer to Haryana alleging threat to his life for acting tough against the transport mafia there.

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had earlier directed the Centre to consider the case of the officer for inter-state deputation to Haryana or for central government deputation.

It had directed the state government not to withhold its consent for the inter-state deputation or central deputation of the officer and communicate it to the Centre.

The state government challenged the CAT order before the high court. It claimed that the tribunal failed to understand the mala fide intention of the officer for seeking cadre transfer which was to avoid a criminal case.

The high court dismissed the state government’s appeal against the CAT order.

In 2016, Gupta was arrested in a corruption case and was sent to jail. He was later granted bail and the FIR was quashed following Patna High Court’s order.

In Tuesday’s verdict, the bench said the resistance of the State government to let go of the officer on an inter-cadre transfer bewildered it.

‘Nation Responsible for Dying Kids in Bihar, Time For Child Survival Policy That Fixes Accountability’

Source: news18.com

New Delhi: With over 100 children dead due to Encephalitis in Bihar since June 2019, the biggest question that remains to be answered is who is to be held responsible?

“Children, obviously, cannot be held responsible for either ‘bringing’ or ‘allowing’ their death. So, there are two parties that could be held responsible – the State (including public health care system) and parents/guardians,” says Ali Mehdi, senior fellow of Health Policy Initiative at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

“By State, with a capital S, I do not exclusively mean the present state or Central government, but we as a nation. Present governments in state and Centre should accept their shares of responsibility, but we as a nation are primarily responsible for the pattern of child deaths in the country,” he adds.

Every year, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) or Chamki fever returns to haunt one of India’s poorest and most malnourished states, Bihar, leaving hundreds of children dead and others with permanent neurological damage.

From litchi to heat wave, various factors have been pointed out as the cause behind the deaths. However, one thing that gets consistently overlooked is the fact that it is a collective failure.

“Even if the role of the State was limited to tackling the shortfall in parental capability to save their children, most child deaths would still be the responsibility of the State since most parents would have done their best, as they deem fit, to keep their children alive,” says Mehdi.

“Every preventable child death is unjust, and the State is responsible for it… it is a collective failure,” he adds.

The recent AES outbreak also brought back to spotlight the public healthcare system in Bihar, which is struggling with poor infrastructure, shortage of manpower and administrative failure.

The situation is so bad that National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was forced to send a notice to the Union Health Ministry and Bihar government over the rising number of children dying due to AES.

But can the public health care system be blamed for this medical crisis? “With efficient and equitable health systems and doctors, especially at the primary health care level, many deaths could have been prevented.

However, the challenges which surround it are reflective of the challenges of ‘structural’ causes,” says Mehdi, adding that blaming the medical system alone would be ‘unfair’ as it’s a ‘systemic failure’ of the Indian State.

Going by the magnitude of the AES outbreak, which returns every year during summers, there’s a desperate need for concrete steps to save children from this deadly disease.

“Given the endemic nature of child mortality in India – it has been the world’s largest contributor to child deaths since 1953 – it is high time for India to have a National Child Survival Policy with clearly delineated responsibilities,” Mehdi stresses.

He believes that there is a need to fix responsibility for child survival in the constitution for things to change in “any major way”.

“A ‘New India’ has to shed its world leader status in backwardness. And that has to begin with the humble acknowledgment of the challenge itself – nationalist chest-thumping isn’t going to help save lives or reduce poverty in the country,” Mehdi adds.

Every child deserves to lead a reasonably long, healthy and productive life to be able to realise their full potential, and for that, “shots of vaccinations would not be enough – children deserve a shot of justice to survive.”

“The Central and state governments have to stand up and assume responsibility for children’s survival and development up to a particular age at least. This should be included in the Constitution and a national policy be developed,”Mehdi says.

He goes on to add that people should be allowed to take the governments to court over harm to their own / children’s health and survival due to defined structural factors, such as air pollution, lack of sanitation and inadequate nutrition.

In addition to framing clear national policy for child survival, Mehdi says Indian health care system needs an urgent overhaul.

Some of the changes Mehdi recommends include developing ‘public health cadre to address social determinants of health’ (The Mudaliar Committee of 1959 recommended an ‘All India Medical Service cadre along the lines of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)), ‘sustainable financing’ mechanisms to address child deaths and malnutrition, more ASHA / ANM level workers to tackle the problem at the local level, as well as a strong regulatory mechanism for private health services and price control on medicines.

In the end, shifting the blame on the state vs central government won’t serve the purpose unless “we as citizens, as a nation have to stand up and own responsibility.”

Bihar’s affidavit in SC depicts poor state of healthcare facilities in state

Source: business-standard.com

In a shocking revelation about medical care facilities in Bihar, which is facing an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, the state government Tuesday told the Supreme Court that there are only 5,205 doctors in government-run health centres against the sanctioned strength of 12,206.

The state government, in an affidavit filed in the apex court, said that only 5,634 nurses were there in government run hospitals and health centres against sanctioned strength of 19,155.

The court had on June 24 directed the state to apprise it about the status of public medical care facilities, nutrition and sanitation within a week in view of deaths of over 100 children in Muzaffarpur due to the outbreak of AES.

Regarding AES cases, the state government said 824 cases have been reported and the number of deaths was 157.

It, however, said that it was not known whether 24 deaths out of 215 cases were due to AES.

“State of Bihar had already taken all possible steps to prevent the spread of the disease by providing additional medical facilities at the affected region, public awareness campaign at the village level, involving various agencies to assist the government etc,” it said.

Giving details of the status of available clinical human resource, the Bihar government said there was 57 per cent and 71 per cent vacancy of doctors and nurses respectively.

In case of lab technicians and pharmacists, the vacancy stands at 72 per cent and 58 per cent of the sanctioned strength, the affidavit said.

“It is respectfully submitted that the overall human resources available in health system in the state is not as per standard norms,” the affidavit said, adding that health department has taken steps to recruit medical officers, para-medical and other technical support staff.

It said that requisition for recruitment of 4,012 general duty medical officers and 2,425 specialist doctors has been sent to the Bihar technical services selection commission.

The state government said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself “is personally involved and actively engaged in finding ways and means to control and treat the dreaded AES disease” in Bihar.

It said that the state, in cooperation with the Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and other agencies, has simultaneously provided all medical facilities to treat the affected children.

“The steps taken up by the State has prevented spread of the disease and has reduced the fatality rate arising out of the AES disease,” it said, adding, “In view of the steps taken by the state of Bihar, the fatality rate has come down to 19 per cent whereas the global fatality rate of AES is around 30 per cent”.

“In view of the constant and consistent efforts taken by the state of Bihar and in view of the change in weather conditions, there is a substantial reduction in number of reported cases of AES and JE in the State. The state of Bihar would continue its efforts to prevent any such condition in future,” it said.

The state government said that malnutrition is associated with the issue of sanitation and safe drinking water and they are already working on sanitation and hygiene issues under the ‘seven-nischay yojana’.

“It is respectfully submitted that the state government has initiated a socio-economic survey in affected areas to ascertain socio-economic factors behind AES incidence to initiate vigorous and coordinated campaign with the active involvement of the concerned departments to bring about speedy improvement/change in the socio-economic status of the relatively poor people who are mainly susceptible and vulnerable to the threat of AES disease,” it said.

The state government said that they are fully aware and “quite conscious of recurrent resurfacing” of AES cases in Bihar and has been continuously taking steps to protect and save precious human lives.

Besides Bihar, the apex court had also asked the Centre to file response on the issue.

The apex court is hearing a petition filed by advocate Manohar Pratap who has said that he was deeply “pained and saddened” by the deaths of more than 126 children, mostly in the age group of one to 10 years, in Bihar due to AES.

“The deaths of children are a direct result of negligence and inaction on the part of the respective state governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Union of India in handling the epidemic situation which arises every year due to outbreak of AES also called Japanese encephalitis,” the plea said.

The petitioner has also sought directions for all possible steps to stop the disease outbreak in the earlier epicentre, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, and to create awareness about preventive steps and first aid.

Symptoms of AES include high fever, convulsions and extremely low blood sugar levels. Among the factors said to trigger the syndrome are malnutrition.

There were more than 44,000 cases and nearly 6,000 deaths from encephalitis in India between 2008 and 2014, said a 2017 study published in The Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR).

Researchers said the patients often report acute onset of fever and altered consciousness, with a rapidly deteriorating clinical course, leading to death within hours.

Litchis grown in Muzaffarpur, the country’s largest litchi cultivation region, are said to contain a toxin which can cause a drop in blood sugar levels if consumed by a malnourished child.

Over 100 Bonded Labourers Rescued from Brick Kilns in Bihar and Haryana

Source: newsclick.in

Over 100 bonded workers were rescued from brick kilns of Bihar and Haryana in the last week of June, who congregated at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on July 1 to share stories of severe forms of physical violence, abuse and humiliation that they had to go through to make ends meet. The labourers were rescued from a carefully construed web of human trafficking spanning across Banka and Nalanda in Bihar among other districts. Kamla rescued from Diwana gaon in the Kurukshetra region said, “We were sold off to the brick kiln owner by two human traffickers. The boys who had sold us off made a hefty commission out of the deal. On the other hand, after slogging in the kiln for hours at a stretch we were given only about Rs. 1,000-1,500 per month to make ends meet.”

Over 21 families have been rescued from the region, which include around 80 workers being women and children. The workers from Bihar explained that employment in the unorganised sector in the state primarily remains seasonal as they are able to find work only for approximately three months. Poonam Devi from Jagta village said, “Through agriculture we could not sustain our family. Per month, my husband was able to make Rs 200 while I as a woman could only manage to get Rs. 100.”

The rescued workers stated that they were lured in the trade because of the advance payments being offered to them at the beginning of the season. Some families were offered Rs. 10,000, while some were given Rs. 15,000. The workers had taken the loans to repay old debts, while some in the case of medical emergencies. The rescued workers said that they had taken their entire families to the kiln to ensure that the payments come through, however, even after ten months of working for over fourteen hours per day, the workers were told that their debt could not be cleared. After the rescue, it was discovered that the signatures of the workers had been taken forcefully.

Laxmi, who was rescued from Bihar said, “I had no other option but to work at the kiln as the employment generated under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) would get me a meagre amount of Rs. 100 per day. Children as young as 14 are being forced to drop out of education and made to work in the kilns. I was made to believe that the life at the kiln would be a lot better.”

Another worker, Sanjay who was also lured through a network of traffickers, he said, “I was working as a construction worker for ten hours a day and I could manage to make only Rs. 250 per day. I was told I would just need to be in another state for six months and make 1,000 bricks and I would be paid close to Rs. 700 per day. But in reality, the trafficker managed to take his cut and I was not paid as promised. My children had to leave school and work with me at the kiln to survive.”

The lack of education among the workers gives a leeway to contractors to trick the labourers into signing contracts which are designed for their own profit. As a result, many workers get trapped in the kilns as they can’t even run away since their families are also in the kiln.

The workers were rescued on the basis of an input from the region. Post the rescue, Nirmal Gorana of the National Campaign Committee for the Eradication of Bonded Labour, has filed written complaints with the Deputy Magistrate of Kurukshetra. The team of rescuers from the Human Rights Law Network also reached out to the DM’s office of the Pehwa region on June 28. Post the rescue, the local administration left the workers at the railway station without taking any responsibility for their rehabilitation.

While the state government often denies the charges of bonded labour persisting in the region, the Modi government has gone on to slash funds meant for rehabilitation of bonded labourers by 61%. In 2017-18, the total funds released for bonded labour rehabilitation was Rs 6.64 crore, But it has been reduced drastically to Rs 2.53 crore in the following year. In terms of rehabilitation of the rescued workers, Haryana has been termed as the worst performing state which has managed to rehabilitate only 92 of the 594 bonded labourers rescued. Experts, however, are sceptical about the numbers. They feel that the numbers could be far higher both in case of rescued labour as well as those who were rehabilitated.

Nirmal Gorana said, “The Modi government has brought in an amendment to the Human Trafficking Bill, however, the provision of the rehabilitation for the bonded labourers has been reduced to a joke. How is rehabilitation even possible without the release certificates from the government?” He added that the dalit and adivasi communities are bearing the brunt of the multiple intersections of systemic oppression placing them in the condition of poverty, regular harassment and denial of their right to life and dignity. He said, “These labourers are being deprived of their basic rights, and even in 2019, modern slavery exists. We demand that the government form a policy protecting the rights of these labourers. Also, the government should immediately issue release certificates to all these rescued labourers along with interim relief fund of Rs 20,000 per labourer. The government should provide rehabilitation to these workers and ensure that the manual issued by the ministry of labour is implemented.”

Drunk occupants of pvt vehicles can be prosecuted under Bihar prohibition law: SC

Source: business-standard.com

The Supreme Court Monday said that a private vehicle in Bihar is defined as a “public place” by the state’s prohibition law and if a person is travelling drunk, police have the power to prosecute.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and K M Joseph made the observation while deciding on an appeal filed by some persons, who were travelling to Patna from Jharkhand’s Giridih on June 25, 2016 in a private vehicle after consuming liquor, and were arrested by police.

Their vehicle was stopped for routine checking at a police post in Nawada district of Bihar and when subjected to breath analyser test, it was found that they were drunk.

Though, no liquor bottles were found in the vehicle, they were arrested by the police and remained in custody for two days.

They had moved the apex court challenging a Patna High Court’s February 16 last year judgement dismissing their application seeking to set aside an order passed by the magistrate who had taken cognisance of the offence punishable under the provision of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016.

The counsel appearing for them contended before the apex court that no offence was made out under the provision of the 2016 Act and the vehicle in which they were travelling cannot be said to be a “public place” within the law.

The counsel appearing for Bihar countered the submissions and said that their vehicle was intercepted at a public road and no error was committed by the magistrate in taking cognisance of the offence.

“We have to further take into notice that private vehicle of the appellants was intercepted when it was on the public road. When private vehicle is passing through a public road it cannot be accepted that public have no access. It is true that public may not have access to private vehicle as matter of right but definitely public have opportunity to approach the private vehicle while it is on the public road,” the bench said in its verdict.

“Hence, we are not able to accept the submission that vehicle in which appellants are travelling is not covered by definition of ‘public place’ as defined in Section 2(17A) of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016,” the bench said.

The bench also dealt with the contentions of the counsel appearing for the appellants who said that offence under the provision of the Act can only be committed when liquor was consumed in a public place.

The bench noted that as per Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, even if a person consumes liquor outside the state and enter into the territory of Bihar and is found drunk or in a state of drunkenness, he can be charged with offences under section 37(b) of the Act.

“We, however, cannot take a decision on the above issue in this appeal. Whether charge that consumption of liquor has taken place within the state of Bihar is made out in the facts of the present case are questions which need to be decided by the Magistrate after looking into the materials brought on record by means of the charge sheet,” the bench said.

The bench granted liberty to the petitioners to file an application seeking discharge before the magistrate.

Bihar: Upendra Kushwaha to take out ‘padayatra’ in protest against AES deaths

Source: indianexpress.com

Charging the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar with having “failed” to control the AES outbreak, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha Sunday announced that he will take out a ‘padayatra’ from the worst-affected Muzaffarpur district in protest, later this week.
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The Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) outbreak has claimed the lives of more than 150 children during the month.

Addressing a press conference here, a day after he visited Muzaffarpur where 134 children have died since June 1, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief said, “our padayatra will have the theme, Nitish hatao, bhavishya bachao (oust Nitish from power, save the future of Bihar).”

The ‘padayatra’ will commence at Muzaffarpur on July 2 and conclude here on July 6, he said.

“Nitish Kumar will be completing 15 years as chief minister next year. Had he paid adequate attention to providing basic health care to the people of the state, so many children would not have died. We also get an impression that efforts are on to pass the buck so that Kumar is not held accountable,” Kushwaha alleged.

Kushwaha’s alliance partners such as the RJD and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) have been demanding the resignation of Health Minister Mangal Pandey, a senior BJP leader.

“It is not my concern whether Kumar retains Pandey in his cabinet or removes him. But, my point is he did not fight elections in the name of his cabinet colleagues. He won on the plank of his claims of ‘sushasan’ (good governance). Now that the falsity of the claims lay exposed, he must take the blame,” Kushwaha a former JD(U) leader who quit and floated his own outfit in 2013- said.

The RLSP started off as an NDA ally and won all the three seats it contested in 2014, riding the Modi wave while Kushwaha himself got a ministerial berth at the Centre.

He quit the BJP-led coalition in 2018 after the saffron party apparently offered him only two seats in order to make way for the JD(U) headed by Kumar, who had returned to the NDA, a year earlier.

Kushwaha thereafter joined the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ comprising Congress, RJD, HAM and budding Nishad leader Mukesh Sahnis VIP.

The opposition alliance was trounced in the recent general elections, with only the Congress among the constituents winning a seat. The RLSP, which had fought five, lost all including two contested by Kushwaha himself.

Ashish Vidyarthi to address youths as part of a “skills

Source: business-standard.com

Bollywood actor Ashish Vidyarthi will fly down to the city next week for delivering a pep talk to young men and women of Bihar as part of World Skill Youth Day celebrations.

Vidyarthi made the announcement to this effect in a short video clip uploaded by Bihar Skill Development Mission (BSDM), which is organizing a three-day Skills Carnival as part of the celebrations, on its Facebook page.

Set up in 2010 by the Bihar government, the BSDM aims to empower the youth by empowering them with requisite skills to fuel the growth of the state. The mission’s primary roles are to establish a wide network of training centres for the youth and to provide them with employment opportunities.

“It was, however, only by 2016 that the Mission gathered momentum as the preceding year saw Chief Minister Nitish Kumar returning to power on the Saat Nishchay (seven resolves) plank – the first one of which was aarthik hal, yuvaon ko bal – aiming at imparting skills to high school dropouts under the age of 25”, Dipak Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, state Labour Resources department, told PTI here.

Vidyarthi is scheduled to address the participants on the inaugural day of the function on July 13.

In the nearly two and a half minutes long video clip, Vidyarthi – best remembered for playing a cold-blooded terrorist in Govind Nihalani-directed “Drohkaal” that fetched him a National Award for the Best Supporting Actor – strikes a chatty and informal note.

“When we come face to face, we shall talk of dreams, of ways to make our futures better and try to improve our understanding, our capabilities and our skills”, Vidyarthi says in the video.

“The youths of Bihar are second to none when it comes to talent, hard work and perseverance. These traits have to be nurtured and resolute steps taken for onward progress”, the actor says in chaste Hindi.

“So, see you all on July 13. Hope you will come. And won’t you treat me to littis (a Bihari delicacy). I badly want to taste these”, signs off Vidyarthi with a mischievous smile.

Schoolgirl cycling back home gang raped in Bihar

Source: gulfnews.com

Patna: A grade 12 girl was dragged by youths into a car, gang raped in the moving vehicle and then thrown along a road in Bihar.

The police have arrested one person but four others are absconding.

The incident took place in Saran, the Lok Sabha constituency of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian Rajiv Pratap Rudy. Saran is a north Bihar district around 80km from Patna, the capital city of Bihar.

Police said the 17-year-old was returning home after school on her bicycle on Friday afternoon when the youths kidnapped her. She had gone to school to receive her grade 12 mark sheet and other documents for admission in higher classes.

After the kidnapping, the youths drove the car around the locality and raped her until she lost consciousness. According to the victim, five men were in the car. After committing the crime, they threw her along the road and fled the scene.

Late in the evening, villagers noticed the unconscious girl on the road with her school documents by her side. They called up her father using a contact number written on the school documents. The victim was then admitted to hospital where her condition is said to be critical.

“We have arrested one person based on the information provided by the victim while raids are already on to nab the other absconding accused persons,” the local Saran district superintendent of police Hari Kishore Rai told the media on Sunday.

The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal slammed the state government for the fast-deteriorating law and order situation in the state. “This is one more example of worsening law and order in Bihar,” RJD spokesperson Mirtunjay Tiwary said.

Last week, three incidents of gang rapes were reported from various parts of the state.

In one case from the Sitamarhi district, two sisters were kidnapped from outside their home in the night and allegedly gang raped by eight men.

After the incident invited wide outrage, former parliamentarian Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, announced a cash reward of Rs100,000 (Dh5,316) to anyone who kills the rapists.

“If the government can punish the rapists, the society too holds the right to teach a lesson to the outlaws,” Yadav told the media after meeting the two girls last week.

According to an official report, more than 6,200 incidents of rape have been reported in the past five years of the ruling Nitish Kumar government in the state. This year, as many as 353 cases of rape have been reported until March, indicating at least four girls are raped every day in Bihar.

Slums in Jharkhand to get Mohalla Clinics like Delhi

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Ranchi: Taking a cue from the Delhi government, the Raghubar Das government plans to start “Mohalla Clinics” that will offer free medical care to people living in slums in Jharkhand.

“These clinics will be like primary health centres and will offer free diagnostics facilities, treatment and medicine for minor ailments. These are being started for the benefit of daily wagers, who lose a day’s salary if they visit a regular hospital for treatment. The clinics will open every day in the morning and evening. Serious patients would be referred to bigger hospitals for treatment,” state Health Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi told IANS.

Every clinic will offer OPD, vaccination, maternity, post natal and family planning services, along with tests for malaria, tuberculosis and other small ailments. Doctors will be paid for the number of patients they treat in a clinic.

A Health Department official said: “Every slum will get a Mohalla Clinic on a population of 15,000. Based on the number of slums, some 25 temporary Mohalla Clinics have been planned in the state.”

Chandravanshi said the clinics will also function as Awareness Generation Centres for diseases that mainly affect poor people mainly living in slums.

Brick kilns ruin 6,000 acres of land in Bihar every year: Study

Source: hindustantimes.com

Red brick kilns in Bihar destroy about 6,000 acres of land every year, according to the results of a study released recently. This is a big and alarming number for a state whose economy is largely based on agriculture, and where environment management has become of paramount importance in the face of a large-scale water crisis.

The study was conducted by Development Alternatives (DA), a research institution working for sustainable development. Quoting 2017 data from the mines and geology department, DA said that there were 6,364 registered brick kiln units in Bihar that produced 19,000 million red bricks and consumed around 53 million tonnes of soil. The total geographical area of the state is 94,163 square km.

In 2018, as per data from the mines and geology department, the number of brick kiln units was 6,291 (73 less than in 2017). Of all the districts, Gaya has the highest number of brick kiln units in Bihar. The district, having a geographical area of 4,976 sq. km and facing an acute water crisis, had 442 brick kiln units in 2018. The second highest number of 325 units was in Saran district, followed by 310 in Patna.

Vice-president, DA, Soumen Maity, said, “When the top soil of a [plot of] land is cut, the humus is lost, making it barren or [resulting in] massive loss of its fertility. The land around the brick kiln also becomes barren because of the enormous heat generated from the furnace of the unit. Even the water table of the area starts falling due to evaporation of the underlying water.”

Maity said that the figures of the mines and geology department only showed the brick kilns that paid royalty, but there were many that were unregistered and illegally run. He added that a lot of water — an estimated 25% of the water available in an area — was used up in the making of red brick.

The study has been done by DA in association with Bihar State Pollution Control Board. Commenting on this situation, BSPCB chairman Ashok Kumar Ghosh said, “The red brick kilns are destroying the agricultural land and depleting the groundwater also. Many have switched to clean technology, which is not the solution to save the agricultural land. The Centre is now stressing on the manufacture of fly ash bricks, using fly ash generated from thermal power units. We have suggested that brick kilns should be given some time to switch to fly ash units, so that they recover the cost they put into switching to green technology.”

Brick kilns are the fourth largest contributors to the wealth earned by the mines and geology department. In 2018-19, the department collected Rs 4,144.11 lakh from the brick kilns.

The DA study said that in 2017, Bihar lost 6,176 acres of agriculture land owing to brick kiln activity. To arrive at this conclusion, the study assumed that 1 metre of topsoil was cut from agriculture fields for making bricks. However, the mines and geology department grants permission to cut top soil up to 3 metres or slightly more than 10 feet. “There are reports that rules are hardly followed when cutting the soil. In many districts, soil has been cut beyond 10 feet,” said Maity.

In 2018, the mines and geology department had issued a notice stating that soil was a “minor mineral” and under the Bihar Minor Mining Act 2017 (Rule 28-2), it was necessary for both sellers and buyers to take permission by registering themselves with the mining and geology department. “However, only one or two people are taking permission before the sale of soil to brick kiln owners in Gaya,” said Rajkishore Sharan, district mining officer, Gaya, pointing to the extent of illegality.

Water conservationist Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the ‘Waterman of India’, said that the brick kilns sliced the top soil, which had the capacity to store water and recharge the aquifers. “Their [large] numbers will definitely affect the water table of the particular area where they are operational,” said Singh.