Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu has directed to relocate tanneries from Hazaribagh within next 72 hours.
He said the tanneries would be shut down if the factories are not shifted within the given time, according to a press release of the Industries Ministry.
The minister also asked BSCIC to send legal notice to the tannery owners by Sunday.
Amu said if any tannery owner fails to relocate the factory within 72 hours, his allotted plot in Savar tannery estate will also be cancelled.
The government had taken a project titled “Hazaribagh Tannery Relocation Project (HTRP)” to shift the tanneries to a new and eco-friendly tannery estate at Harinbari in Savar following a High Court verdict in 2001.
Beginning in 2002, the project was scheduled to be completed by 2005 at a cost of Tk175.75 crore.
On October 8, 2007, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) had extended the time-frame and approved a Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP). In the RDPP, it was proposed that the project would be completed at a cost of Tk545.36 crore by 2012.
The ECNEC, however, again extended the time-frame of implementation of the project to June 2016.
