Coal Still Fuels Brick Kilns in NCR Despite Official Ban, Reports CSE

In a recent comprehensive investigation conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment, it has been documented with methodical precision that numerous brick kilns situated within the National Capital Region continue to employ coal as a principal fuel source notwithstanding the explicit prohibition issued by the Central Air Quality Management authority earlier this calendar year. The findings, which were released to the public on the twelfth day of June in the year two thousand twenty‑six, delineate a stark incongruity between the declarative ambition of policy instruments and the observable reality of on‑ground combustion practices that persist amidst urban expansion and regulatory oversight.

The Central Air Quality Management directive, which was formally promulgated on the twenty‑sixth of March, expressly forbade the use of coal in brick‑making operations within the designated jurisdiction, mandating instead the exclusive adoption of biomass and other low‑emission alternatives in order to conform with nationally stipulated ambient particulate matter thresholds. Upon its issuance, the municipal corporations of Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida each released communiqués proclaiming vigorous enforcement, conspicuously allocating financial resources to fuel‑switching subsidies and promising regular inspection tours by environmental officers, thereby constructing a veneer of proactive stewardship that the ensuing evidence now appears to have obscured.

The CSE field team, employing calibrated portable emission monitors and systematic fuel‑sampling protocols across a stratified random sample of ninety‑four kilns, recorded average coal proportion levels ranging from twenty‑two to twenty‑nine percent of total heat input, thereby contravening the stipulated zero‑coal requirement and persisting in a manner that suggests systemic non‑compliance rather than isolated malpractice. Moreover, ancillary measurements indicated that particulate matter concentrations in the immediate vicinity of the surveyed sites regularly exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard by a factor of one point five to two, a statistical deviation that directly correlates with the recorded coal fractions and underscores the tangible health jeopardy imposed upon surrounding households.

When approached for comment, a representative of the Brickworkers Association of the NCR, speaking on behalf of a consortium of kiln proprietors, asserted that a fuel blend comprising twenty‑to‑thirty percent coal combined with seventy‑to‑eighty percent sawdust and agricultural residue constitutes an indispensable technological compromise necessary to attain the requisite firing temperature within the temporal constraints imposed by construction schedules. The assertion, articulated during a press briefing held at the municipal headquarters, was buttressed by references to laboratory trials conducted in 2023 which, according to the speaker, demonstrated that the proposed mixture yields a combustion efficiency marginally superior to that achieved by pure biomass, a claim that the CSE report found to be unsubstantiated by the empirical data gathered in the current field campaign.

In response to the emerging evidence, the Directorate of Urban Services issued a notice on the twenty‑first of May directing all kiln operators to submit proof of complete coal cessation within fourteen days, a directive that was accompanied by the promise of punitive action amounting to fines up to fifty thousand rupees per day of continued violation, yet the follow‑up inspections conducted by the appointed environmental auditors have, to date, produced merely a handful of documented infractions. The limited number of enforcement actions, critics argue, reflects an entrenched reluctance within municipal hierarchies to confront entrenched commercial interests, a reluctance further compounded by procedural ambiguities pertaining to the attribution of jurisdictional responsibility between the State Pollution Control Board and the local civic bodies, thereby engendering a climate of administrative inertia that permits the continuation of prohibited practices.

Residents of adjoining localities, many of whom have expressed persistent concerns over the acrid odour and the visible plume of smoke that rises from the kilns each dusk, have reported an upsurge in respiratory ailments, a claim substantiated by a recent health department bulletin which recorded a thirty‑seven percent increase in outpatient visits for asthma and bronchitis during the months of April and May. Despite these documented health repercussions, the municipal grievance redressal mechanism, which purports to resolve citizen complaints within a fortnight, has so far returned only generic assurances and procedural acknowledgements, thereby leaving the aggrieved populace bereft of substantive remedial measures and fostering a growing sense of disenfranchisement with civic institutions.

Given the incontrovertible evidence that a considerable proportion of brick kilns continue to rely upon coal despite an explicit statutory interdiction, one must inquire whether the administrative machinery vested with enforcement authority possesses the requisite legal clarity, budgetary autonomy, and procedural rigor to compel full compliance, or whether it remains hamstrung by legislative lacunae and inter‑agency competition that render punitive measures merely symbolic. Furthermore, in an urban environment where public health metrics have demonstrably deteriorated and the municipal grievance apparatus appears impotent, it is imperative to examine whether the prevailing policy framework affords affected citizens an effective evidentiary burden, an accessible avenue for judicial review, and a realistic prospect of restitution, thereby exposing potential systemic deficiencies in accountability and the rule of law.

Against this backdrop, one must also contemplate whether the allocation of public funds for biomass conversion subsidies has been judiciously monitored, whether the stipulated performance indicators have been rigorously audited, and whether any misallocation or inadequacy of such financial instruments might have inadvertently perpetuated reliance upon coal by rendering alternative fuels economically unattractive to kiln proprietors. Finally, the enduring discrepancy between the proclaimed environmental commitments of municipal authorities and the palpable realities experienced by ordinary residents invites a critical appraisal of the legal obligations of public officials, the adequacy of inter‑governmental coordination mechanisms, and the potential necessity for legislative amendment to fortify enforceability, thereby ensuring that future civic planning does not merely espouse aspirational rhetoric but translates into verifiable, health‑protective outcomes.

Published: June 12, 2026