The Department of Environment (DoE) has completed all preparations to shut down the tanneries in the capital’s Hazaribagh area following the High Court’s (HC) order. Meanwhile, leaders of the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) yesterday held a meeting to discuss whether to file an appeal against the HC verdict. “We’re waiting to receive the main copy of the HC order. As soon as we get the verdict, our operation will start immediately,” Kazi Sarwar Imtiaz Hashmi, director general in-charge of DoE, told The Independent yesterday. The DoE will conduct the drive to shut down all the tanneries in Hazaribagh with the help of the power department, the WASA and Titas Gas, he said in reply to a query. “We learnt about the HC verdict through newspapers and electronic media. We’ve completed drafting letters, which will be sent to the three authorities so that utility services like water, gas and electricity connections if those tanneries are disconnected,” he added. DoE officials have already gathered information about the number of tanneries in Hazaribagh, he said. However, BTA leaders are yet to take any decision over the filing of appeal against the HC verdict till filing this report around 8pm. “We are in a meeting now. If any decision regarding the filing of appeal against the HC verdict is taken tonight, we will go to our lawyer for consultation,” BTA general secretary Md Shakhawatullah told The Independent over cell phone. On Monday, the HC had directed the government to immediately shut down the tanneries in Hazaribagh and disconnect their utility services as they missed several deadlines to relocate the factories to Savar. In 2001, the High Court had directed the government to shift the factories from Hazaribagh to Savar as they were discharging highly toxic untreated chemical waste into River Buriganga. By 2003, untreated waste from more than 200 tanneries had left the water of the Buriganga highly polluted.
