Editorial
Relocation of tanneries to Savar in limbo
Owners' demand for compensation unfair
It is astonishing that more than a decade since the passing of a High Court ruling which ordered the relocation of all tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar nothing has materialised. True the work on the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) remains unfinished, but that no preparatory work has been done by a single tannery to relocate till date goes to show bad faith of the industry in this regard.
It is morally reprehensible that factory owners are demanding a compensation to the tune of Tk110 billion for relocating. It is even more so when the entire infrastructure including 200 industrial plots over a 200 acre area in Savar allotted specifically for the purpose, except the CETP, have been provided free of cost. Under the circumstances, it is they who should be compensating the nation for the damage done to the Buriganga, the lifeline of the city, rather than them asking for compensation.
According to a recent Environment Impact Assessment Study published in the International Journal of Environmental Science and Development in April, 2012 Hazaribagh, which is the largest tannery region in Bangladesh consisting of more than 200 tanneries generate an approximate 7.7 million litres of liquid waste and 88 million tons of solid waste every day. The direct discharge of these wastes has contaminated the ground and surface water with dangerously high concentrations of chromium, as well as cadmium, arsenic and lead.
Hazaribagh tanneries' contribution to the environmental damage to both eco-systems of the Buriganga River and food chain is well-documented. Yet, for inexplicable reasons the government has so far been unable to make headway with the sector to relocate. The whole project has been in limbo with industry failing to come to terms with the government to share costs on the CETP project. It is imperative that the industry understand the need to move forward on the issue, and not to find excuses for delay, because unless the CETP is up and running, leather goods from Bangladesh will be barred entry into developed countries including the European Union, putting into jeopardy a Tk62 billion export market.
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