Hazaribagh Tanneries: An urban nightmare beyond imagination

The tanneries of Hazaribagh continue to pollute the air, land and water bodies in the southwestern parts of the city exposing millions of people to serious health hazards.
The government’s relocation plan is progressing so sluggishly many fear that it would again miss the newly set deadline of 2016. The extent of pollution is so high in the vast areas and beyond,  Hazaribagh tanneries have been listed by western organisations as one of the worst urban polluters in the world.
The 270 registered tanneries on roughly 25 hectares of land use the most rudimentary technology and generate a staggering 100 tons of solid wastes and more than 22,000 cubic litres of toxic wastes every day. This highly toxic and deadly waste is directly dumped into the surface drains, canals and ponds untreated, which eventually flow into the river Buriganga through some of the most densely populated localities in the world.
The vast areas along the path of the waste are filled with a stench round the year. Residents, exposed to the stench complain of various physical disorders including skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. Moreover acid burns, dizziness and nausea are common complaints in the area. However, it is not known up to what extent humans and environment is affected by the deadly carcinogen waste of hexavalent chromium, one of 36 chemicals used in the smelting operations.
“Any metals including the corrugated tin roofs of our houses disintegrate in a matter of days,” says Firoza Begum, a primary school teacher and a resident of Rayer Bazar about two kilometers away from Hazaribagh. “Household items such as refrigerators, utensils and even our gold and silver ornaments abrade,” Firoza added. As she talked with this correspondent other members of the neighborhood joined in to express their dismay.
“The river Buriganga has become a stagnant pit, devoid of life due to the waste dumped by the tanneries,” says Sardar Harun, a resident of  Basila on the bank of the river. “If the river water is clean, millions of people will benefit from it,” he adds.
The environmental and human losses inflicted by the tanneries could amount to billions of Taka, surpassing by a huge margin the foreign currency earnings of the tanneries. According to Export Promotion Bureau in the fiscal 2009-2010 the Hazaribagh tanneries earned a total of US$ 401.64 million. In the current year the amount may vary slightly.
The influential tannery owners have been enjoying immunity from the law of the land dumping deadly wastes into the open land ‘because’ they claim they are earning huge amounts of ‘valuable’ foreign currency for the country. But experts in the Department of Environment (DoE) told this correspondent the environmental and human losses could amount to much more than the ‘valuable’ foreign currency earnings of the polluters.
“We know for sure the underground water has been contaminated on a vast area,” says a frustrated DoE official requesting not to be named.

The high levels of pollution are clearly visible in the water bodies in the area.

“We also know up to a million people, exposed to the pollution for years, are suffering from one or the other ailments and we also know that the rivers around the city and beyond have been suffocated. What do you think is the cost of repairing these destructions?” he adds.
The worst affected are the 30,000 workers who are directly or indirectly involved in the processing operations in the tannery industry.

“The technology has not been updated since the establishment of the tanneries fifty years ago so question of workers’ safety has always been a far cry,” says Majid Masud, a student at the University of Liberal Arts, residing at a rented accommodation near Hazaribagh.
 RELOCATION  
Following the government move in 2003 to initiate a project for relocation of the hazardous industries to “Savar Leather Estate”, officials of the top tanners associations agreed to cooperate. The government in its turn also agreed to partially compensate the tanners for the relocation.

It was planned that the relocation to the Savar Leather Estate would be completed by June 2004.  But deadline after deadline failed to bring the daylight for the project.  After a public interest complaint was lodged, the High Court in June 2009 asked the government to relocate the tanneries from Dhaka to the proposed leather estate at Savar by February 28, 2010 or face shutdowns. The government has repeatedly sought more time due to various complications arising from setting up of a Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and fund constraint. Fund was not available to pay the 2.5 billion BDT compensation.
Last year the government announced a plan to relocate the tanneries by December 2014. Sources in the Industry Ministry now sets a new deadline of June 2016 as the project cost has recently been revised by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) to10.7 billion BDT.
The tannery owners have not moved an inch to set up their factories in Savar. Instead, they are blaming the government for failure to reach a consensus on compensation and soft bank loans. The tannery owners demanded a compensation of 10.9 billion BDT, a readymade CETP and soft loans.
In October 2013, a MoU was signed between BSCIC, Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA) and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather-goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLLFEA) in this regard. As per the agreement, the government will offer a compensation package worth 2.5 billion BDT to 155 factories and assign 6.39 billion BDT for the installation of the CETP – a must for red-category factories discharging toxic chemicals.
Establishment of infrastructures at the 200-acre tannery estate on the bank of river Dhaleshwari at Harindhara village of Tetuljhora in Savar is nearly complete (the Savar Leather Industrial Estate). The plots have been prepared while the construction of roads, BSCIC Bhaban, police outpost, CETP and a power plant are now underway.
However, the polluters are not happy. Tannery owners say that it would not be possible to relocate the tanneries within 2016.  Whilst the dillydally continues, millions remain trapped in the poisonous environment unleashed by our brave foreign currency earners.
By Special Correspondent

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Posted by Reportsbd on Jun 11 2014. Filed under Home Slide, Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry