The brick kiln. Picture by Surajit Roy

Ratua, (Malda), Feb. 15: Ratua block I is on the boil over the construction of a brick kiln close to mango orchards, the area?s top draw.

Letters of protest have been sent to ministers from the district and administrative authorities, and area residents have threatened to demolish the kiln if their appeals fall on deaf ears.

Karmadhaksha of public health and environment, Ratua I gram panchayat, Sahanur Alam said: ?Ratua is famous for its mangoes. More than 80 per cent of the population here depends on this trade. A brick kiln will seriously affect the mango production.?

Sources said Shakti Mishra of Kahala village in Ratua police station area ? now a resident of Calcutta ? is constructing the kiln.

Manager of the kiln Sidddhartha Singh said a paint-production plant existed on the 12-bigha land on which the kiln is being constructed.

?That plant had shut down quite some time ago and the land was lying vacant all this while. The construction of the kiln began some six months ago,? he said.

?There were no orchards in the vicinity of the paint plant. We have already invested several lakhs of rupees on the kiln. We will abide by all the environmental norms,? he added.

Many like Anjali Singha, a resident of the village, however, are not ready to take Singh for his word.

?It will become difficult to stay here once the unit starts production. I wonder how they managed to get the permission for the unit?? Anjali said

Block land and land reforms officer Shibdas Kundu admitted that the smoke-belching chimneys would cause extensive damage to the mango crop. He said he had served a notice to the owner of the unit after the villagers had registered written protest, but no had met him.