Bangladesh, as a whole, could lift its life expectancy by 5.6 years were it not for the air that we breathe.

News of a brick kiln being built in clear violation of the law on farmlands in the Kukua union of Barguna's Amtali upazila simply points to a much larger picture of negligence and impunity -- and it is the air quality in Bangladesh, along with the ecology and agricultural productivity, that continues to suffer as a result.