Two days of winter rain have damaged raw bricks in Banke.

Deepak Adhikari, vice-president of the Brick Traders Association Lumbini, said that raw bricks, which were prepared and kept for drying in a kiln here, worth Rs 5 million to 10 million, have been damaged. According to him, bricks worth about Rs 100 million have been damaged in Banke alone. 

Vice-president Adhikari indicated that the price of bricks will increase as the damage to raw bricks will affect production.   'If the bricks produced are damaged, it may also affect the market price of bricks,' he said. Adhikari said that since raw bricks cannot be insured, entrepreneurs have to bear the loss in the rain and said that any bricks soaked in water will not be useful.

The rain has damaged raw bricks in preparation in about 70 brick industries in the district and about 23 brick industries in Bardiya. In the past, brick kilns were operated only after Magh 1, so the damage was caused by rain while the bricks were being prepared for baking, businessmen have said.