Some recent (2019) reports about air quality and pollution due to brick kilns indicate that several hundred brick kilns around the capital Dhaka "were responsible for 82 per cent of Dhaka’s air pollution turning it into the top-ranked unliveable city on earth."

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A woman laborer (right) grimaces under the combined burden of the heavy basket of coal, the greasy black smoke of the gas engine, and the particulates of soot and coal that are blown into her face. Another woman laborer (left) runs the grinding machine that churns coal to a fine powder for the furnace. These women earn 200 to 300 taka (under $US 4) for an 8 to 10 hour shift. They have no respiratory or other safety equipment, and no footwear.

Living for the dream -- a billboard along the highway of the Savar district advertises the commodities and lifestyle that workers aspire to (but will never achieve).

The fallout from the smoke stacks coats everything with toxic dust, and has caused widespread defoliation of trees in some areas.

A man exits the grim domicile he calls home while he works at the kiln.

Some laborers earn under $US 3 per day for monotonous repetitious back-breaking tasks (like this one).

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The fire keepers shovel small scoops of pulverized coal dust into the vents on the top of the kiln.

Workers often have no footwear, no protective equipment or respiratory protections. Doctors in Bangladesh have reported brick kilns hacve causes epidemics of respiratory diseases, including lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, cough, sputum, wheezing and dyspnoea.

Mohammed Emon Hossain Bappy (17) stands outside the makeshift shack he will call "home" for six months at a time. Mohammed lives far north of Dhaka; he will spend 6 months working and sleeping at the kiln before returning home with money for parents. He earns less than ~ $US 130 a month. He works in a 6 hours work-sleep rotation, 7 days a week.

A woman pauses while working near her home in the production of dung 'bombs' squished by hand out of livestock dung and dried in the sun. The bombs will be sold in the city and used for a source of fire. Some housing is elevated above the flood plain of the river.

An owner/manager watches over the work at the kiln at sunset.

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A young woman works long shifts shoveling pulverized coal dust after it is ground by the primitive gas-powered machine at right. These women have no protective equipment, no respiratory protection, no footwear. Inhalation and ingestion of pulverized coal dust leads to serious illness.

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The fallout from the kilns disburses toxic contaminates in water, over vegetable gardens and into the food sources. Plastics pollution, as seen on this walking path, is also a serious problem.

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A child rests after working at the kiln, seated in a chair in the dystopian landscape of the kilns. Dhaka in 2019 / 2020 is ranked as the most unlivable city in the world.

Two men bathe in a stagnant polluted pond due to an absence of clean running water.

Laborers at a brick kiln work hauling and stacking bricks for the next baking cycle. Some workers will spend whole days in the same repetitive tasks. Women and children also participate in hauling and cleaning bricks, and other tasks, and they receive less than men, something under $US 4 for an 8 to 10 hour shift.

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There are many industrial hazards at the kilns.

Work is hard, compounded by the swealtering heat during the hotter months, and heavy rains before and after monsoons.

The furnaces for the kilns operate all night long, and must be staffed by laborers who will keep the fires burning.

A mother speaks to her child while preparing the evening meal in the open air stall that comprises part of her home at one of the kilnsTwo women cook dinner for their hungry family as night falls over the kiln. The nightshift laborers keep the furnaces burning 24/7 until the bricks have been properly cured. Families here live in malarial open-air dilapidated mud and bamboo shacks with metal roofs. Each of the 5000 kilns in Bangladesh employs some 100 to 300 people.

The high concentrations of airborne particulates pumped into the air, water and soil have led to severe toxicity of the topsoil and have caused the visible defoliation of plants.

Mohammed Emon Hossain Bappy (front) sleeps at midday in the makeshift housing provided by the company and located on the company land at the site of the kilns. Mohammed shares his living space, which he will occupy for 6 months before return ing to his village in northern Bangladesh, with many other men. A single kiln might employ anywhere from 100 to 300 temporary laborers.

Women prepare a meal in the open air stairway on the rooftop of an elevated brick tenement building. Many workers, and many communities, live in the immediate vicinity of the brick kilns, subjecting them to unhealthy environmental conditions around the clock, day in day out.

A young boy rests from the work keeping the fires going on top of one of the kilns. His skin is coated with a red film from the fine brick dust, and he wears a scarf as a head band and to try to keep the toxic air out of his lungs.

Laborers endure difficult physical working conditions for meager pay.

Mohammed Emon Hossain Bappy (17) reflects on the hardship of his life. Mohammed lives far north of Dhaka; he will spend 6 months working and sleeping at the kiln before returning home with money for parents. He earns less than ~ $US 130 a month. He works in a 6 hours work-sleep rotation, 7 days a week.

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Industrial activity on the banks of the river and the river's floodplain have a huge detrimental residual and downstream impact.

A child laborer pauses during the clean-up of fine brick dust; with no protective respiratory gear and improper skin protection, laborers will suffer serious disease. This child's pay for working long hours is under $US 2 per day.

Wood, coal, coal dust, even rubber automobile tires are used to feed the furnace at the kilns, which must be kept burning through the night.

The bright colored saris and tunics, and the smiling faces so often seen, even in the face of such extreme hardship and environmental problems, are emblematic of the friendly, warm and graciousness of the Bengali people and culture.