Pollution did not lessen even after relocating the tannery industry in Bangladesh
River pollution did not lessen even after relocating the tannery industry from Hazaribagh at Dhaka city to Hemayetpur at Savar under various conditions.
Previously, when the Tannery state was in Hazaribagh, it polluted only the Buriganga river. Still, after shifting it at Savar, it now pollutes both the Buriganga and the Dhaleshwari rivers.
The negotiators mentioned this at a Waterkeepers Bangladesh conference titled “Tannery Industry and River Pollution.”
Buriganga in the Hazaribagh area of the capital was once in turmoil due to pollution of the tannery industry. To protect the river from that pollution, the Ministry of Industries (Bangladesh) undertook a project in 2003 to relocate the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar.
By disconnecting gas and power in 2017, the tanneries had compelled to relocate to Savar after a considerable delay. Although the tannery factories have relocated to Hemayetpur in Savar, river pollution has not lessened, and the pollution area has expanded.
According to reports, the Central Effluence Treatment Plant (CETP) isn’t working well, and it has less capacity as required. Hence, it isn’t fully functional right now. As a result, river pollution continues unabated.
Waterkeepers Bangladesh organized the dialogue at Bochila High School in Mohammadpur. The research information on the tannery industry and river pollution was presented by Md. Nurul Islam, Professor of the Department of Geography and Environment at Jahangirnagar University.
Professor Md. Nurul Islam said, “To assess the quality of river water, the collection of samples was done from four significant locations in Dhaka.
The places were Dhaleshwari river runs alongside Hemayetpur’s new leather industry region, and Buriganga runs alongside Hazaribagh’s ancient leather industry area. Rivers, Buriganga river near Sadarghat and Buriganga river in Shampur Ranjan Shilpa area.
Of the four places, Dhaleshwari in Hemayetpur, where the tannery industry currently stands, has the most polluted water quality. The Buriganga River near Hazaribagh is in the second position in terms of pollution. Even after the transfer of the tannery, river water pollution has not decreased.
Earlier only in the Hazaribagh area of Buriganga but now Dhaleshwari river is also getting highly polluted. Dhaleshwari of Hemaitpur is a tributary of Buriganga. As a result, the polluted water of Dhaleshwari later flows into the river Buriganga.”
ABM Masood, leader of the Tanners Association, said, “The CETP that was originally proposed, but it has yet to become implemented. There are three steps to turning on this system.
When one step gets started, another gets paused. Due to these reasons, tannery traders are not getting the benefits of CETP at Saver.
As a result, environmental pollution from tannery waste is not going to stop. We also want pollution to stop. For this, the central waste treatment plant in the tannery has to start effectively.”
Sharif Jamil, the coordinator of Waterkeepers, said, “We relocate the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Hemayetpur. Did we reduce the level of pollution, or spread more? We do not want the tannery industry to collapse.
We want to stop pollution and make this industry more environmentally friendly. We all have to work together to solve the pollution problem of the tannery industry. For this, the government has to make a roadmap.”
