Land Degradation in Terms of Environmental Cost Due to the Emergence and Development of Brick Kilns - A Study On Khejuri CD Blocks Over Coastal Medinipur in West Bengal

Land is an important natural resource which is present on earth in limited amount. The degradation of this natural resource is one of the most serious problems of the world today. Land degradation implies the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land. Land degradation occurs due to natural or anthropogenic factors. Soil degradation is recognized as major aspect of land degradation. In India, bricks are usually made of clay, and are generally produced in traditional, unorganized small scale industries. Bricks are important building material and about 140 billion bricks are annually produced by these industries. Brick industries are essential for economic development as they provide employment to nearly 12 million people. Due to increase in population, demand of houses and infrastructure is increasing, as a result use of bricks is also increasing. An important step in brick making is firing of bricks in brick kilns causes serious environmental pollution and health problems. Brick burning largely influence the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Impact of brick industries on air pollution, vegetation and human health has been studied by many workers who have shown that brick industries cause air pollution and land degradation besides decreasing herb density and causing nutrient disorders in plants/trees in immediate vicinity. Brick making consumes large amount of clay which leads to top soil removal and land degradation. Large areas of lands are destroyed every year especially in developing countries due to collection of soil from a depth of about 1 to 2 m from agricultural land. These affected areas are expanding rapidly due to increase in brick production. The topsoil nutrient elements and soil biota are also destroyed through brick burning and brick burning also alters the physicochemical properties of soil. The present study has been undertaken to assess impact of brick making on the degradation of land in Khejuri where about 25- brick kilns and 23- tile fields have been developed during last 10-15 years along the adjacent location of Hijli River, Rasulpur River and tidal channels. Intensive questionnaire survey has been conducted taking significant number of samples from each of the villages in Khejuri C. D Block. Secondary data sets have also been collected from the Block Development Office and Panchayat Offices. Generated soil data and other data have been analyzed and compiled by necessary Statistical and Mapping Methods along with GIS Techniques. Those data have been compiled and analyzed. Hence, the results of the study clearly indicate that the land degradation scenario in terms of environmental cost of brick manufacturing is much higher than the economic returns readily available.