Pollution record
The November issue of "National Geographic" lists the world's thirty worst polluted sites in which Hazaribagh, the tannery area in Dhaka, is also shown! Not an enviable record by any yardstick! Heavy metal is identified as the main polluting source at Hazaribagh. This is coming from chromium and its associated heavy metal based chemical salts and acids which are the main culprits. Much has been said and voiced about it; but as with everything else in Bangladesh, it is all talk and no action!
I am using this opportunity to bring it to the notice of the adviser concerned in the CTG and his colleagues; who may be too busy to spare the time to scan this valuable information. Same is the case with our very busy top bureaucratic hierarchy. However, the object of supplying this information is to start some positive result based action. Mere relocation is no solution; it's just passing the buck, while the toxic chemicals are released to the water bodies without drawing any attention. What is needed is removal of these contaminants from the tannery affluents, and enforcing it strictly to ensure that it is always done. Surely, some NGO or NGOs with government support and maybe overseas aid financing can get the job done
and follow it up to ensure that there is no contaminant in the tannery affluent in future.
Will the CTG rise to the occasion in the interest of public health?
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