he Environment Ministry says a total of 6,637 traditional and modern brickfields are currently operating in Bangladesh. Only 735 of these fields follow the new regulations, says a report by the Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS). About 63 percent of brickfields have met the ‘modern kiln’ regulation, says the environment ministry. The remaining traditional kilns will gradually be phased out, say brick business owners. Many of the brickfield owners have also begun questioning the regulations. Though older kilns are being converted, business owners say they are not given permission because they cannot observe every regulation. Brickfield owners warned that if the regulations are observed strictly, one million workers may go out of work.