Abstract
Brick industries are unorganised, rural, small scale industries in Cachar district of Assam which play an important role in economic development of the entire region. It has been observed during the study that these brick industries are responsible for large scale environmental problems like land degradation, air pollution, water quality degradation and loss of biodiversity. The present study deals with the quality of water in the selected brick kilns in Cachar district and its degradation during Jan-Dec 2014. The existing water bodies are contaminated with different compounds and continuous siltation from the brick kilns. The research focuses on the variation of various physico-chemical parameters such as water temperature, pH, conductivity, Total alkalinity, Dissolved oxygen, Carbondioxide, Nitrate, Phosphate, Transparency in the selected water bodies. The studied ponds were found to be in degrading state with less productivity. Moreover, the result obtained showed the need and urgency to restore the physical, chemical and biological management tactics to conserve and preserve the ecological imbalance and disturbance in the hydro-geo-chemical and hydro-biological cycles that adversely affect the food chain and food web in the brick kiln affected aquatic bodies.
Highlights
The brick kiln industries occupy a very significant place in the unorganised sector, confined mainly to rural and semi –urban areas
Though the brick fields of Cachar are playing a vital role in economic development of the region, at the same time we cannot ignore the pollution risks associated with the brick fields
The high turbidity might be responsible for high level of water temperature in the aquatic bodies near brick kiln industry because the suspended particles absorb the heat from the sunlight making the water warm . 13,14 Measurement of pH indicates the level of acidic and basic nature of the aquatic system
Summary
The brick kiln industries occupy a very significant place in the unorganised sector, confined mainly to rural and semi –urban areas. Fired clay brick is one of the most important building materials in the country. The number of brick producing units in the country is estimated to exceed 100,000 2. There are around 50,000 brick kilns in the whole of country 3. Brick kiln industry has its own unique characteristic like instability, short duration and poor technology. In Cachar brick kiln industry is a major employer of unskilled and semi-skilled labours. In brick kiln industry work is a seasonal activity and occurs largely between October to May and remains shut down during monsoon period,. There are several environmental impacts of brick kiln of which the major problems are land degradation, water quality loss, deterioration and air pollution. A days due to increasing anthropogenic influences in and around the catchment area of the aquatic systems causes large extent of nutrient enrichment in the aquatic
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