Hazaribagh tanners must relocate to Savar by December 30, otherwise all sorts of utility services, including gas and electricity supplies, will be cut off from their establishments, says Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu. He came up with the warning after visiting Tannery Industrial Park in Savar yesterday morning. Those who have not started the relocation process will have their contracts terminated and face legal actions, including eviction drive, after the deadline, the minister said at a press briefing at the tannery park. He also warned that plots alloted to the factories at Savar would be cancelled if there was any lack of preparedness on their owners’ part. On January 10, the minister said polluting factories in the capital’s Hazaribagh would be shut down if they failed to relocate to the designated industrial park in Savar within 72 hours. Warning of the minister went in vain as several deadlines for relocation were missed earlier. On June 16, the High Court ordered all the Hazaribagh tanners to pay compensation of Tk 50,000 daily for damaging the environment following a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh. On July 18, the Supreme Court reset the compensation amount and ordered the owners of 154 tanneries to pay Tk 10,000 daily for damaging the environment in Hazaribagh area. Bangladesh Tanners Association and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association jointly moved the appeal, seeking a stay on the HC order. In 2003, the government had assigned Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation to develop a tannery park at Savar with a modern central effluent treatment plant (CETP), the most essential component of the project, to reduce pollution.
