72-hr ultimatum to move tanneries to Savar

The government made announcement to close down the tanneries if their owners fail to relocate
the factories from Hazaribagh to the designated industrial park in Savar within 72 hours. Star file
photo
Star Online Report
The government will close down tanneries if their owners fail to relocate the factories from
Hazaribagh in Dhaka to the designated industrial park in Savar within 72 hours, according to
instructions issued by the industries minister.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu gave the instruction today at a meeting with Bangladesh
Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) at his office in Dhaka.

He instructed BSCIC to send a legal notice to the tanneries, said a statement from the industries
ministry.

If the tanneries fail to shift their factories after 72 hours of the legal notice, the allocation of the
plots they have been given in the leather industrial park in Savar will be cancelled, according to
the instruction of the minister.

The industries ministry has already allocated plots on the 200-acre leather estate in Savar to 155
tannery owners through BSCIC, a wing of the industries ministry that is implementing the
project.

The High Court on March 2, 2017 directs the Hazaribagh tannery owners to deposit Tk 30.85
crore to the state fund in two weeks as they did not pay the compensation money for damaging
the environment. In the photo, a steady stream of untreated toxic waste from tanneries in
Hazaribagh flows towards the Buriganga River, the lifeline of the capital. Star file photo

The government has taken a number of initiatives and made investment to relocate the polluting
tanneries from Hazaribagh.
The tanners will have to invest around Tk 6,000 crore to relocate the factories, set up new plants
and begin commercial production. So, they have urged the government to provide long-term
loans at single digit interest to expedite relocation.

There are some 195 tanneries at Hazaribagh.

They are blamed for pouring thousands of litres of untreated and highly toxic liquid waste into
the Buriganga River every day, posing a serious risk to human and animal health.

Bangladesh - Assistance with preparation for

tannery relocation from Hazaribagh to Savar
Quality and clean sustainable production is no longer a choise but a strategy requirement
for a survival for the leather manufacturers.

This is also a reason for long planned and eagerly awaited tannery relocation to new Savar
site.Let s return in time a recapitulate events and some milestones which on the way to vision of
a new modern tannery estate Dhaka/Savar.The nearly 200 tanneries located in Hazaribagh
provide approx 90% of the total leather produced and mostly exported by BGD. Leather industry
provides directly and indirectly approximately 45,000 jobs. Network of tanneries and leather
product manufacturing units forming the leather cluster Hazaribagh has developed during last
decades without proper planning and control. Therefore the Hazaribagh district is probably most
congested overcrowded and polluted part of Dhaka city.Relocation of all tanneries from
Hazaribagh implemented by BSCIC to a properly designed and controlled new industrial estate
in Savar is practically the only feasible solution offering safe, yet economic conditions for
maintaining this important business, keep several dozen thousands of labour employed and
earning much needed (for the national economy) export revenue.

Based on UNIDO experience with pollution control in the leather industry during a preparatory
assistance in 2006-2007 prepared survey and recommendations on tannery relocation of
tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar and establishing of the pollution control system.With the
support of the Swedish International Development Agency and the United Nations Industrial
Development Organisation (UNIDO) work began in 2005 with the preparatory assistance for the
relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar. UNIDO have provided advise to guide both
public and private sector counterparts on technically correct, feasible and practical methods for
relocating the tanning industry from Hazaribagh to the new Tannery Estate Dhaka (TED) Savar.

Relocation offers opportunities for the modernisation of the tanneries in the region,
particularly when it comes to environmental control. The development of Savar should be
much more than a relocation of the industry from Hazaribagh: it offers a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to place the entire export-oriented leather industry in Bangladesh firmly on
the world map.

Activities implemented by UNIDO under ‘Switch Asia’ programme which is co-funded by the
European Commission focuses on introduction of appropriate up-to-date technology and
processes which should be adopted by tanneries and applied in new savar site.The well
established new industrial estate will certainly attract international players of the global leather
trade, will improve local tanneries’ and other leather products manufacturers’ economic
performance and will minimize environmental hazard, provided that local managers, technicians
would implement appropriate technology in Savar.This development will not happen alone and
similarly as even for modern car you need driving licence also to operate tannery in 21st
centaury you need to have up to date technology but mainly capable and well trained managers,
technicians and operators. It is hoped that also thanks to the support provided to Bangladeshi
leather producers by various organizations would result in improved environment and working
conditions. Recent news and agreement regarding long awaited agreement between MoI and
leather associations is positive development not only for Bangladesh but also for the whole
leather sector. It is hoped that also UNIDO s effort will contribute to the goal to provide working
opportunities in modern leather industrial park.

35% of Hazaribagh tanneries relocated to

Savar’
This April 6, 2017 file photo of the Savar tanneries shows construction continues at the siteRAJIB
DHAR/DHAKA TRIBUNE

Construction of the remaining tannery units continues and machinery is being shifted
from Hazaribagh to Savar

Minister of Industries Amir Hossain Amu on Sunday said at Jatiya Sangsad that 35% of
tanneries have thus far been shifted to Savar Tannery Estate from the city’s Hazaribagh area, a
UNB report said.

“Out of 154 tanneries that have plots at Savar Tannery Estate, 55 tanneries started producing wet
blue leather at Savar from May 31, 2017. Some more tanneries will soon begin production,” he
said in reply to a query from Jatiya Party MP Nurul Islam Milon (Comilla-8).

The minister said construction of the remaining tannery units continues and machinery is being
shifted from Hazaribagh to Savar.
relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh
Owners skip yet another deadline

ANISUR RAHMAN KHAN

A total of 112 Hazaribagh tanneries out of 155 are yet to relocate to the newly established Savar
tannery village despite the expiry of the deadline on February 28, the eighth set by the government.
According to sources, only 43 factories have so far shifted to Savar from the city’s Hazaribagh.
The tannery owners are now saying they would need time till June–July to fully relocate.
Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday gave two weeks to 154 tanneries operating in Hazaribagh to
pay Tk. 308.5 million as penalty for not moving to Savar within the stipulated time.
The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has allocated 205 plots to
Savar tanneries, while the government has already given Tk. 250 crore to 155 tannery owners to
relocate. What’s more, the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) is already in place there.
“Only 43 factories have started production in the Savar tannery village. We are getting only 2,000–
2,500 cubic metres of waste daily against a requirement of 10,000 cubic metres to run the CETP,”
Abdul Qaiyum, project director of the Savar Tannery Industrial City, told The Independent
yesterday.
“But we have to run it despite the insufficient amount of waste for the sake of the environment,”
he said. He said there was no scope to extend the deadline any further.
Around 50 tanneries are ready to relocate to Savar within 15 to 20 days, Md Shakhawat Ullah,
general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA), told this correspondent.
“It will take up to June–July to relocate all the factories to Savar from Hazaribagh. A total of 44
factories has already been shifted. We are regularly holding meetings and putting pressure on the
owners to immediately shift their units,” the BTA general secretary said.
The BTA had written to its members, asking them not to bring raw hide to Hazaribagh.
Criticising environmentalists, he said, “We are sincere about shifting our factories. The
environmentalists have no role other than filing cases against us to take credit. The factory owners
are counting money to pay fines.”
Industries minister Amir Hossain Amu had said on February 5 that all the tannery factories would
be shifted to Savar by February 28 this year.
Earlier, on October 16, 2016, the minister had said the December deadline was the final one. But
the government failed to make the tannery owners move from Hazaribagh within the successive
time-frames. On January 10, 2016, Amu had asked tannery owners to shift their units within 72
hours and directed the authorities to serve legal notices. Later, however, the authorities extended
the deadline to April 3 and then to April 30.
In 2001, the High Court (HC) had directed the government to shift the factories from Hazaribagh
to Savar, considering the critical situation of the Buriganga due to the discharge of highly toxic
untreated chemical waste from tanneries. By 2003, untreated waste from more than 200 tanneries
had virtually turned the Buriganga into a noxious pool.
Relocation of Hazaribagh tanneries

About 200 tanneries located in Hazaribagh area of Dhaka city provide approximately 90 per cent
of the total leather produced in Bangladesh and mainly exported to different parts of the world.
The leather industry provides directly and indirectly, approximately 45,000 jobs in the country.
There is no denying the fact that the network of tanneries and leather product manufacturing units,
formed and developed during the last several decades, is now a major manufacturing industry and
source of employment. Over the past decade, leather exports have grown by an average of $41
million each year. Contributing about US$ 1billion to the annual export basket of the country,
some analysts are even saying that it has the potential to be as big as the ready-made garment
sector of Bangladesh, if quality is maintained and product diversification is ensured, over the
coming years.
Having said that, one must understand, that the saying, ‘ends justifies the means’ is not applicable
and acceptable for everything. Yes the industry is generating a huge amount of revenue and taxes
for our entrepreneurs and the government, but at what cost? The word 'Hazaribagh' is made of two
Persian words: Hazar meaning 'one thousand' and bagh meaning 'garden'. Hence the literal
meaning of Hazaribagh is a ‘city of a thousand gardens'. Farcically enough, the area is the farthest
from a garden that anyone can ever imagine! According to recent estimates, factories there dump
around 21,000 cubic meters of untreated waste into the Buriganga River on a daily basis. The same
river happens to be Dhaka's main source of water. Yes, let that sink in to our mind for a second!
No matter what “world class” treatment the water goes through in Dhaka WASA’s facilities, it still
carries the possibility of remaining contaminated.
As per various local and international studies carried out on the topic, it is safe to say that the
effects of toxic dumping in the river are multifarious. Firstly, there is the rotting smell day and
night for not only the Hazaribagh residents, but for the surrounding localities of Zigatala and
Rayerbazar as well. The few times I went to Zigatala, the foul odor of under-process leather was
unbearable, even though Zigatala is a good couple of kilometres away from Hazaribag proper! The
factories use a combination of 40 different types of metal and acid in the raw hide processing, 40
per cent of which is absorbed into the leather whilst the rest is discarded into surrounding water
bodies. Needless to say, this leads to extreme environmental degradation. Other hazardous toxins
used in the production process include: Sulphuric acid, Formic acid, Caustic soda, Soda ash,
Arsenic Sulphate, Potash, etc.
Various concerned groups and experts alike, emphasize that since untreated chemical waste is
finding its way into the main river that feeds Dhaka, the surge in respiratory problems, skin
ailments and the rise in cancer cases of late, is only natural. Moreover, as the workers in these
factories operate with little protective kits to safeguard themselves from exposure to such toxic
chemicals, many of them suffer from these diseases as well. In a study carried out by Human
Rights Watch, past and present tannery workers described and displayed a variety of health
conditions including prematurely aged, discolored, itchy, peeling, acid-burned, and rash-covered
skin; corroded fingers; aches, dizziness, and nausea; and disfigured or amputated limbs. Close to
a third of the people (living in and around Hazaribagh) suffer from various types of skin diseases
since the water is contaminated. Pollutant levels in the wastewater surpass Bangladesh’s permitted
limits for tannery effluent, in some cases by many thousands of times the permitted concentrations.
With black sludge flowing easily into the drainage system, high content of untreated chemicals
make their way into nearby streams, ultimately ending up in the Buriganga River, and thereby
affecting the greater population of Dhaka city. In terms of direct economic impact, both domestic
animals and fisheries production in the area has plunged, as cattle food becomes toxic and oxygen
levels in the Buriganga has decreased and is getting poisoned, at an alarming rate. Having this
industry in the middle of the capital is not only environmentally costly, but has other far reaching
implications as well. For example, it draws more and more rural migrants to our already
overcrowded capital, who typically live in the slums that spoils the entire area.
So what has been or can be done to reposition these factories, so that the negative impact to our
environment and our people can be minimized? The first significant step to relocate Hazaribagh
tanneries outside Dhaka came through a High Court order in 2009. The plan was simple: to create
an environmentally sustainable tannery zone that would protect Dhaka city's water supply from
toxic contamination. Seven years on, there is little progress and the only outcome is the mutual
blaming of one another: the tannery owners and the public institution responsible for facilitating
the relocation process. As several deadlines for tannery relocation had already been missed, we
have been led to believe by the administration that the industrial zone that is being built in Savar
is practically complete, but transfer of factories has not been made possible due to reluctance of
the owners. However, this is not entirely the fact. The reality is that the authorities responsible
have themselves failed to meet its own deadlines to complete the work of various infrastructural
facilities, including the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) and is yet to provide utility
services, including gas and electricity connections, as per the requirements. However, that does
not by any mean imply that the factory owners are ready themselves. Out of some 150 factory
owners, only about 30 have made notable progresses in setting up their establishments in the new
location. The authorities believe that only these 30 factories will be in a position to relocate
anytime soon. Given this dismal rate of progress, the issue of pollution by tanneries in Dhaka city
is likely to if substantial initiative is not taken by the authorities on an urgent basis.
As many deadlines came and went for relocation, to which the tannery owners did not pay much
heed, the last of which was on the 9th of March, 2016, finally in a last ditch attempt the authorities
have now imposed a fine of Tk. 50,000 per day. The high court issued an order on 16th June, 2016,
whereby the tannery owners must pay the aforementioned amount, in compensation for damaging
the environment in the area, everyday till they move their operations to Savar. The owners will
have to deposit the money with the state exchequer from the date of receiving copies of the HC
order until relocation of their factories to Savar Tannery Industrial Estate. However, the tannery
owners keep underlining the fact that even the basic facility of the CETP has not been completed
yet, let alone the rest of the infrastructure, so why and how exactly are they going to start setting
up their operations there? Given the current situation, precisely who is going to foot the bill of Tk
3,500 crore to complete the transfer? So, while the blame game is picking pace, especially since
2016, it is the common people who are the sufferers, as usual.
The approximately 7 million residents of Dhaka city, who are exposed to the polluted air and water
on a daily basis, are the victims. Cases of serious ailments, from exposure to the toxicity arising
from the chemical wastes of the tannery factories, amongst both, the young and the old will
continue to grow and expand. Hospitals and diagnostic centers will continue to thrive, as the
number of patients seeking treatment, rise exponentially. Traditionally, the system and culture of
our country is to show complete disregard for the well-being of its citizens as long as any business
medium is churning out “profits”. Therefore to think that our respected, tannery owners and the
authorities would suddenly have a change of heart is probably too naïve! Despite that, for the sake
of our own piece of mind, we must continue to hope and believe that public welfare does take
precedence over profits, in Bangladesh.
At least, the initiative to relocate the tannery industry has been taken….7 years back!