The leather tannery sector located in the Hazaribagh area of Dhaka has expressed that it may not be able to relocate to Savar by February 28, 2010 as per the decision of the High Court and asked the government to take legal measures to have the deadline extended.
According to Rezaul Karim Ansari, Chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods, and Footwear Exporters' Association, they have already filed a writ petition for deadline extension and have also talked to the Industry Minister who has assured them of help.
The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) said the government's failure to set up a common effluent treatment plant was to be blamed for the long delay to shift tanneries to Savar.
The government in 2003 decided to shift tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar, concerned by the release of toxic liquid waste into the Buriganga river. The project was inaugurated in 2005, but has not been implemented yet.
As per an estimate of the Ministry of Environment, nearly 22,000 cubic metres of untreated and highly toxic liquid waste flow through different canals into the Buriganga from the tanneries every day.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India