Ground realities remain unchanged
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Shahiduzzaman Khan
THE tanneries at Hazaribagh that were scheduled to be relocated to Savar is once again facing trouble as the government has sought from the High Court two more years to accomplish the job. It may be mentioned that the job was taken up by the government seven years ago. Such delaying tactics questions the very sincerity of the authorities concerned in freeing the river Buriganga from a slow death that it has been undergoing for years because of pollution compounded by toxic wastes that are dumped into the river indiscriminately by the tanneries.
The decision to relocate the tanneries was made back in 2003 and the tannery estate project was undertaken in 2006. Yet after all these years the industries ministry once again appealed to the High Court for time extension claiming that it would take at least two years to commission the effluent treatment plants without which tannery relocation would not bring about any positive outcome.
The failure of the authorities is, however, not limited to the relocation of the tanneries alone. Successive governments have largely failed to enforce the rules and regulations related to environment conservation. The riverside industrial plants and factories, mainly tanneries, have been discharging wastes into the rivers like Buriganga and Shitalakhya for long in defiance of the existing law.
According to available statistics, three thousand tonnes of solid wastes and 0.25 million tonnes of liquid wastes generated by 150 tanneries are dumped into the river every month. A more immediate cause of worry about this ever- worsening pollution of river waters is contamination of WASA's water line. More than 10 million people are being exposed to a creeping urban disaster because the law is neither being obeyed nor enforced. In fact, December 31 of 2008 was the deadline for installing of effluent treatment plants by the factories. Although this deadline has elapsed two years ago, most of the factories didn't bother to meet the criterion. The systematic spewing of effluents into the rivers goes on unabated. It is because of the government's slow going in the first place that has worsened the condition. But again the High Court set the deadline to relocate the tanneries in June this year. Obviously, the deadlines set earlier failed to induce any sense of urgency in the government and its relevant agencies.
On their parts, the government and tannery-owners explained to the High Court their reasons for not having taken any steps to relocate the tanneries from the city's Hazaribagh area. They placed their statements mentioning the reasons including money and rehabilitation problems and sought at least two-year time for implementation of the High Court directives.
The court also ordered the government to make sure that all industries install effluent treatment plants (ETPs) and other pollution-fighting devices by June this year and provide the authorities concerned with sufficient logistics and police forces to close the eco-unfriendly industries. However, the tannery owners have to spend over Tk 60 million for relocation as per the earlier High Court verdict.
Defending the owners, the lawyer said the then government in 2006 agreed to provide Tk 2.5 billion for the proposed relocation, but the money was not yet disbursed. He said about 65 thousand workers of the industry are likely to become unemployed if the industry is shifted at this moment since they don't have any facilities for habitation at Savar. The government has not yet set up the central ETP and other pollution-fighting devices for the tannery industry, he added. However, environmental groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) opposed the time prayer saying the tannery owners and the government had several times announced that they would relocate the tanneries, but did not take any steps in line with the High Court order. They said the owners themselves have to set up ETPs as per the law, and should not depend on the government for this.
In fact, the High Court had given several deadlines to the government and tannery owners to relocate the tanneries from the city's Hazaribagh area to Savar. The extensions of the deadline for shifting the tanneries located at a densely populated area, however, came in the wake of almost nothing being done by either owners or the government in the last few years to relocate the environmentally dangerous tannery units. The government's plan has been to give the smaller tannery units the facility of using on payment a centrally placed ETP at a special industrial zone at Savar, which has not come off the drawing board as yet.
So the ground realities remained unchanged despite repeated reminders by environmental activists and the media which were bolstered by the court order. In the meantime, industrial effluents are being dumped into the mortally sick Buriganga -- much the same way as the owners did in the past. The people living around the tanneries remain exposed to the pollution which causes various ailments including respiratory and skin problems. It is a matter of great concern that a huge number of people were born and are growing up in the vicinity of tanneries.
Indeed, the government's inaction in installing a waste treatment plant has been delaying the relocation of the leather industries. It was scheduled to hand over the industrial estate to the tanners by 2010 as per agreement. Reports say escalation of project cost by almost five times is the main cause of delay in the project work. The complex procedure for inviting fresh tender for CETP is taking too long.
Most of the European Union (EU) counties are set to pass new policies that will bar import of products from industries that pollute environment with harmful chemical agents and do not have individual or central effluent plant. As such, the shifting of tanneries should be completed as early as possible keeping in mind the impending EU legislation, or else it would hurt the export-oriented industry.
Now, the government has to take a tough stand on the issue. Environmental hazards associated with tanneries are far too great to be ignored or handled without a sense of urgency. It is expected that relocation of tanneries would take place before the expiry of the latest time limit, at least a tangible headway should be made suggesting that relocation was firmly on course.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
THE tanneries at Hazaribagh that were scheduled to be relocated to Savar is once again facing trouble as the government has sought from the High Court two more years to accomplish the job. It may be mentioned that the job was taken up by the government seven years ago. Such delaying tactics questions the very sincerity of the authorities concerned in freeing the river Buriganga from a slow death that it has been undergoing for years because of pollution compounded by toxic wastes that are dumped into the river indiscriminately by the tanneries.
The decision to relocate the tanneries was made back in 2003 and the tannery estate project was undertaken in 2006. Yet after all these years the industries ministry once again appealed to the High Court for time extension claiming that it would take at least two years to commission the effluent treatment plants without which tannery relocation would not bring about any positive outcome.
The failure of the authorities is, however, not limited to the relocation of the tanneries alone. Successive governments have largely failed to enforce the rules and regulations related to environment conservation. The riverside industrial plants and factories, mainly tanneries, have been discharging wastes into the rivers like Buriganga and Shitalakhya for long in defiance of the existing law.
According to available statistics, three thousand tonnes of solid wastes and 0.25 million tonnes of liquid wastes generated by 150 tanneries are dumped into the river every month. A more immediate cause of worry about this ever- worsening pollution of river waters is contamination of WASA's water line. More than 10 million people are being exposed to a creeping urban disaster because the law is neither being obeyed nor enforced. In fact, December 31 of 2008 was the deadline for installing of effluent treatment plants by the factories. Although this deadline has elapsed two years ago, most of the factories didn't bother to meet the criterion. The systematic spewing of effluents into the rivers goes on unabated. It is because of the government's slow going in the first place that has worsened the condition. But again the High Court set the deadline to relocate the tanneries in June this year. Obviously, the deadlines set earlier failed to induce any sense of urgency in the government and its relevant agencies.
On their parts, the government and tannery-owners explained to the High Court their reasons for not having taken any steps to relocate the tanneries from the city's Hazaribagh area. They placed their statements mentioning the reasons including money and rehabilitation problems and sought at least two-year time for implementation of the High Court directives.
The court also ordered the government to make sure that all industries install effluent treatment plants (ETPs) and other pollution-fighting devices by June this year and provide the authorities concerned with sufficient logistics and police forces to close the eco-unfriendly industries. However, the tannery owners have to spend over Tk 60 million for relocation as per the earlier High Court verdict.
Defending the owners, the lawyer said the then government in 2006 agreed to provide Tk 2.5 billion for the proposed relocation, but the money was not yet disbursed. He said about 65 thousand workers of the industry are likely to become unemployed if the industry is shifted at this moment since they don't have any facilities for habitation at Savar. The government has not yet set up the central ETP and other pollution-fighting devices for the tannery industry, he added. However, environmental groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) opposed the time prayer saying the tannery owners and the government had several times announced that they would relocate the tanneries, but did not take any steps in line with the High Court order. They said the owners themselves have to set up ETPs as per the law, and should not depend on the government for this.
In fact, the High Court had given several deadlines to the government and tannery owners to relocate the tanneries from the city's Hazaribagh area to Savar. The extensions of the deadline for shifting the tanneries located at a densely populated area, however, came in the wake of almost nothing being done by either owners or the government in the last few years to relocate the environmentally dangerous tannery units. The government's plan has been to give the smaller tannery units the facility of using on payment a centrally placed ETP at a special industrial zone at Savar, which has not come off the drawing board as yet.
So the ground realities remained unchanged despite repeated reminders by environmental activists and the media which were bolstered by the court order. In the meantime, industrial effluents are being dumped into the mortally sick Buriganga -- much the same way as the owners did in the past. The people living around the tanneries remain exposed to the pollution which causes various ailments including respiratory and skin problems. It is a matter of great concern that a huge number of people were born and are growing up in the vicinity of tanneries.
Indeed, the government's inaction in installing a waste treatment plant has been delaying the relocation of the leather industries. It was scheduled to hand over the industrial estate to the tanners by 2010 as per agreement. Reports say escalation of project cost by almost five times is the main cause of delay in the project work. The complex procedure for inviting fresh tender for CETP is taking too long.
Most of the European Union (EU) counties are set to pass new policies that will bar import of products from industries that pollute environment with harmful chemical agents and do not have individual or central effluent plant. As such, the shifting of tanneries should be completed as early as possible keeping in mind the impending EU legislation, or else it would hurt the export-oriented industry.
Now, the government has to take a tough stand on the issue. Environmental hazards associated with tanneries are far too great to be ignored or handled without a sense of urgency. It is expected that relocation of tanneries would take place before the expiry of the latest time limit, at least a tangible headway should be made suggesting that relocation was firmly on course.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com