Mohammadi News Agency News – Features – Photo
MNA Business Desk: The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered 154 tanneries at Dhaka’s Hazaribagh to pay Tk. 10,000 per day as compensation for polluting the environment until they shift to Savar. The court also ordered to donate fifty percent of the fined money to the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order upon a petition filed by the Tannery Owners Association and Bangladesh Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters’ Association.
Bangladesh government tried repeatedly to relocate the tanners from the area, but failed. The latest attempt was a March 31 deadline set during an inter-ministerial meeting on March 20. Earlier, On Jun 16, the High Court ordered the 154 tanneries to pay Tk. 50,000 a day.
Three trade bodies filed an appeal, which the Appellate Division heard on Monday. The High Court order came after the industries secretary submitted a list of tanneries still operating at Hazaribagh.
The court on Apr 12 had ordered submission of the list following a petition by a rights body ‘Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.’
In 2001, the High Court ordered the tanneries, which are polluting the Buriganga, to relocate. In 2009, it gave them until Feb 24, 2010 to move to the Tannery Industrial Estate at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka. The court extended the deadline several times on petitions by the government.
The industries secretary report suggests that, of the 155 units at Hazaribagh, only the Unit-2 of Reliance Tannery has moved to Savar and 144 have started the process. But 10 units have so far made no effort to move.
Petitioner’s lawyer Manzil Murshid said the apex court’s verdict is a big progress towards the relocation of the hazardous industry to Savar to ensure the environment of the River Buriganga.
There are 270 registered tanneries in Bangladesh, and around 90-95 percent is located at Hazaribagh on about 25 hectares of land. Most of these use old, outdated, and inefficient processing methods.
