Illegal brick kilns are once again spewing vile fumes into the Valley's already-polluted air. A committee was formed by Bhaktapur's Office of Cottage and Small Industries to inspect the area where most of the kilns are, and recommend action against them, but that doesn't seem to bother the kiln owners-some of the new kilns in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are already well into construction work. A study last year revealed that only 45 of the 75 brick kilns operating in Bhaktapur district were legal. Still, the government took action against only 17.

Brick kilns are one of the leading causes of the Valley's foul air. In March 2002, the Industrial Development Board decided to phase out the obsolete kilns from Kathmandu Valley in one-and-a-half years and replace them with cleaner technologies. A study conducted by Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) last year in Bhaktapur's Jhaukhel VDC found that the concentration of particulate matter in the air was three times higher in the brick kiln area than elsewhere.