CHARACTERISTICS OF BRICK KILNS, THEIR SOCIOECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ON SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES

Abstract

Brick manufacturing greatly impacts the environment, society, the economy, and human health. Bricks are the essential material that is used in the construction of buildings and used almost everywhere. Because of this, the industry of brick kilns (BKs) is the one that is the most significant. COVID-19 causes disruption across the board in all different kinds of industries. Kilns for making bricks have a significant detrimental impact not only on the surrounding environment but also on the surrounding civilization. This investigation's primary focus is on the current condition of brick kiln workers (BKWs) in Pakistan and their susceptibility to contracting COVID-19. The investigation's overarching goal is to ascertain the investigation's status. The second step is to determine the worker's current state of health. Next this research also investigates status of BK industry in the country. We also determined how COVID-19 affected industry in the next step. Two questionnaires with a structured format were used to collect information from the people who worked and owners of the BKs. The findings of the research indicate that COVID-19 has an effect not only on earnings and production of bricks but also on workers' social conditions, financial conditions, and health conditions. Many workers are either well into their golden years or lack formal education. In addition, they are dealing with issues concerning their financial situation and inadequate family accommodations. When it comes to their means of subsistence, most of them have more than one source of income. The number of populations from which samples were taken was small; however, this is an aspect that can be strengthened through additional research. If talk about the condition of BK industry most were unregister and using harmful fuel which have negative impact on the surrounding. In addition, the same kind of research could be carried out in a different country or region to perceive the situation accurately