Despite the deadline of relocation was extended for several times, the shifting of industrial units of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar will not be completed by the June next year as the process is moving at snail’s pace.
Of total 155 industrial units which were allocated plots at Savar Tannery estate, only one unit has completed the construction work of its two storied building, said Md Abdus Sobhan, executive general secretary of Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba).
He was speaking at a press conference on “Actual development of tannery shifting and evaluation of Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba)” at Poba’s head office in the capital yesterday.
The construction work of first floors of eight industrial units are about to be completed, while 56 factories have only started the work, and 76 have made only their boundary walls, Abdus Sobhan said.
Meanwhile, 14 industrial units have not even fixed their boundaries, he said.
The country’s tannery industry produces on an average 100 tonnes of wastes everyday. The amount, however, increases up to 200 tonnes a day during peak seasons, he added.
“Our water and environment are badly affected by the wastes of the tannery industry,” Abdus Sobhan said.
The government had taken 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 Tk 175.75 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.
The Poba urged the government to take necessary step against owners of the industrial units who will fail to move in time.
