The authorities yesterday suspended all activities at the brick kiln illegally set up in the middle of three pristine villages in Nawabganj thana under Dhaka district villagers told The Daily Star over telephone.

In the face of mounting protests from the people of Algirchar. Balmantacliar and Bakshinagar villages, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) suspended the Environmental Clearance for Saudia Bricks for the third time on December 4. But the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka wrote back to the ministry saying that he would need a letter from the ministry to take step to suspend the licence of the brick kiln.

But taking advantage of the bureaucratic tangle, the kiln owner lit its furnace on Thursday, instantly blanketing the villages with black smoke.

A report on the authorities’ confusing role in this regard was l published this newspaper.

Sources concerned said that an official of the MOEF telephoned the Deputy Commissioner on Sunday and asked him to suspend all activities at the brickkiln.

The Thana Nirbahi Officer (TNO) of Nawabganj yesterday went to the klin and stopped ail activities there. But local people demanded Immediate cancellation of the licence Issued by the DC on the basis of a dubious Environmental Clearance.

The MOEF now plans to constitute a probe body to investigate the matter and submit a report. The committee would comprise officials of the ministry and Lhe Department of Environment, one source said.