Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday stressed the urgent need to manufacture bricks using eco-friendly alternative technologies as a critical step to combat worsening air pollution.

The Prime Minister underscored this priority while presiding over a high-level meeting focused on environmental degradation at his Tejgaon office in the capital, according to the Prime Minister's Assistant Press Secretary, Gazi Shahriar Pamy.

The session featured extensive deliberations on an array of strategies designed to curb both air and noise pollution.

Specifically, the attendees resolved to implement swift and robust interventions to mitigate the hazardous emissions generated by traditional brick kilns.

Furthermore, the participants evaluated methods to restrain the rampant honking of vehicle horns throughout Dhaka. Addressing this issue, the Prime Minister directed law enforcement authorities to adopt a much stricter approach in enforcing existing traffic regulations.

The discussion also explored the potential of deploying artificial intelligence (AI) technology—modeled after AI cameras currently utilized in traffic management—to track, identify, and curb unwarranted horn usage.

Additionally, the Prime Minister highlighted the necessity of launching decisive operations to promptly clear Dhaka's streets of unfit, out-of-date, and ecologically damaging commercial vehicles, including buses and trucks.

As part of modernizing urban infrastructure, he instructed administrative bodies to set up automated traffic signaling networks at a minimum of 50 new intersections across the capital without delay.

The strategy meeting was attended by Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo, State Minister Shaikh Faridul Islam and State Minister for Water Resources Forhad Hossain Azad.

Also in attendance were the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Affairs Dr. Md. Saimum Parvez, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Md. Abdus Salam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) Md. Anisur Rahman, alongside top-tier representatives from several ministries and public departments.