Around 180 brick kilns across 14 upazilas of Lalmonirhat and Kurigram are extracting topsoil from farmland to manufacture bricks, affecting agriculture and the environment.
Dhankuranis, mostly women and children, are from the ultra poor in rural Bangladesh. Equipped with spades, spatulas and baskets, they look out for ratholes in vast croplands during the Aman harvesting season.