Revisiting tannery relocation

Only months back the government came heavily on the tannery owners for delaying shifting of tanneries from Hazaribagh to the tannery estate set up newly at Savar. Now it is the Chinese company in charge of constructing the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) which is being warned with the sternest of words for poor progress of work. This is quite ironical. The two rounds of warnings, not to speak of several more in the past, make it however amply clear that there is a gross mismatch in what the government says and what it actually means by it. One may question the very rationale of asking the tannery owners to move to Savar where the CETP is yet to be operationalised.

The reason why relocation of tanneries from their existing site at Hazaribagh has gained increasing prominence over the years, is amply clear. Such tannery units have been causing the reckless contamination of environment and adjoining water bodies including the Buriganga river as a consequence of disposal of harmful wastes. Moving the pollution-prone tanneries to Savar thus makes sense because of the facilities for environment-friendly waste management to be made available there through CETP. Now, without the CETP in place at the newly developed estate, it is difficult to figure out how the government was planning to go ahead with the core agenda of waste management. Needless to mention, failure of the authorities to equip the tannery estate with the CETP in time is now a stumbling block to the long-contemplated relocation.  

 The Savar tannery estate project was taken up more than 10 years back to relocate around 200 tannery units from Hazaribagh. These units of varying sizes reportedly discharge 22,000 cubic metres of raw and liquid waste into the Buriganga. The long waited project was first undertaken at a cost of Tk 1.75 billion. Subsequently, the cost was revised upward at Tk 5.45 billion for construction of the CETP and dumping yard. Now, with the current revision, the project cost has been set at approximately Tk 10.79 billion. The figures are glaring enough to demonstrate how indecisive moves add to multiply the burden on the public exchequer.

The government and the tannery owners were at loggerheads for a very long time. Snags emerged every now and then when it came to shifting. Lately, much of the discords seemed to have got settled, and shifting looked a reality at long last. But the latest information does not suggest it to be around the corner. Insiders are of the opinion that although things are set for shifting, the process of relocation including operationalising the CETP will not be completed before the middle of 2016. This serves as an ominous signal for the country's leather industry, as the European Union (EU), the country's largest destination of leather export, has already made it known that exports of leather from Bangladesh will be on hold until a full-fledged CETP becomes operational. This, in all clarity, is a sorry state. Will the authorities care for the wake-up call?