Industrialisation is associated with some consequential hazards. Safety at workplace and management of industrial effluents are among various hazards that are discussed off and on in Bangladesh.
The safety of the workplace has been one of the top agenda particularly after the Rana Plaza tragedy at Savar, Dhaka. After the tragedy about 700 garment factories were identified as unsafe for work. The buyers are putting pressure to make them safe through renovation and relocation. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) later claimed that 80 per cent of those factories were made compliant. Foreign buyers also visited many of these factories and expressed their satisfaction in some cases and dissatisfaction about other factories. Whatever the situation actually is, Bangladesh has been exporting ready-made garments satisfactorily. The recent political unrest in the country has, however, been affecting its shipment and order procurement.
The pollution generated by industrial units has raised big hue and cry both from the public and the industrialists. It is reported that a huge number of industries are polluting water, land and environment. The highest number of such polluting industries is located in greater Dhaka zone followed by Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi. The industries mainly include tanneries, leather industries, textile mills, washing and dying plants, hospitals and pharmaceutical industries. The tanneries in Hazaribagh, Dhaka have already polluted the Buriganga. Industries along the rivers Shitolakkhya, Meghna, Karnaphuli, Poshur and the Padma have polluted these rivers.
A seminar, recently organised by Policy Research Institute (PRI) in Dhaka, identified the textile mills as the major polluter of environment and water. It was noted in the seminar that textiles, particularly dyeing and finishing factories, discharge toxic elements that are contaminating both surface and groundwater with serious implications on life and environment. In short, the country and its people are experiencing unscrupulous discharge of untreated life-threatening industrial wastes. This calls for preventive and regulatory steps from the government on an urgent basis.
The government has not yet been able to shift the Hazaribagh tanneries to the proposed site at Savar. There was a declaration a few months ago that tannery industries at Hazaribagh would be closed. But that has not taken place as yet.
The Directorate of Environment (DoE) in its drive to punish polluting industries over last 12 years or so, penalised more than 3000 such factories. Because of manpower shortage and strong lobbying by the influential group, the DoE can not go for stern action under the Environment Conservation Act, 1995 and subsequent regulations under this Act.
In the meantime, the Finance Bill-2014 introduced a provision for collection of surcharge from polluting industries. One may term it as a green tax. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a gazette in February, 2015 that industries responsible for pollution will have to pay 1.0 per cent surcharge on prices of their products. It was scheduled to be effective from July 01, 2014. It is reported that the NBR listed about 800 industrial units across the country that pollute the environment. The board depended on the list of polluting factories against which penal action was taken by the DoE. These industries were treated as polluting, as they did not have Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP). This surcharge or green tax would be treated as non-tax revenue and will be utilised for protection of the environment.
There will be expansion of ready-made garments (RMG) and textile sector as the exporters target exports worth US$50 billion by 2020. If expansion goes on in this sector, one wonders whether the factories will have 100 per cent ETP coverage.
The issue is, therefore, to have an environmentally sustainable industrial sector. Environment Conservation Act and rules are in place to help achieve the goal. There are environment courts in Dhaka and Chittagong. In addition, the DoE can conduct mobile courts and penalise the polluter and non-compliant industries. But these initiatives are not sufficient. First of all, the DoE should develop its own capacity in terms of manpower, technical know-how and equipment. All projects, whether in the public or the private sector, must take environment certificate from the DoE. There should be supervisory teams to watch and monitor the activities of the field-level offices of the DoE.
On the investment side, a special fund should be created by the Bangladesh Bank to help the investors in procuring ETPs and adopting eco-friendly technologies and practices. A permanent task-force should be created in the Ministry of Environment and Forests to oversee that industries are not polluting water, air and land and are not impacting life and health of the people.
The industrialists and the trade bodies should also play an important role in preventing industrial pollution. They can take initiatives on their own and ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
The writer is an economist and columnist. chowdhuryjafar@ymail.com