More than 500,000 sacrificial animal rawhides have entered the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate over the past three days centering around Eid-ul-Azha.
The information was confirmed on Saturday, by Md Mehrajul Maian, executive engineer of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) office at the leather industrial estate.
He said that a total of 527,676 raw hides arrived at the industrial city on 1,712 trucks between 12pm on Thursday and 10am on Saturday. Of these, 511,540 were cattle and buffalo hides, while 16,136 were goat and sheep skins.
Mehrajul said preservation and processing activities are being carried out swiftly to handle the incoming hides. To manage the increased Eid-season pressure, BSCIC, the Ministry of Industries and Ministry of Commerce, the district administration, local authorities and law enforcement agencies are working in coordination. Additional measures have also been taken for transportation and management of hides.
Every year, the majority of hides entering the industrial city on the first day of Eid are fresh, blood-stained raw hides. As these hides are brought for sale shortly after slaughter, many of them arrive without being salted beforehand.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, Commerce Minister Khandaker Moktadir visited the leather industrial city.
During the visit, he toured several tannery factories and discussed the current state of the industry, production activities and environmental management issues with tannery owners.