Close on heels of Bangladesh Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu asking tanneries to relocate from Hazaribagh to Savar or face action, the government has reportedly served legal notices to 25 tanners on their failure to start the relocation process.
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Project director of the tannery estate in Savar Abdul Quayum said he had already provided a list of errant tanneries to lawyers recently for sending legal notices, adding that most of the tanneries have already been served the legal notices, while the remaining would get them by Thursday.
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It may be mentioned here that on Sunday, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu gave an ultimatum to tanners to start relocating to the Leather Industrial City at Savar within the stipulated deadline or face tough government action including cancellation of plots at Savar.
“I will take action. I will cancel their plot allotment and even close down their factories in Hazaribagh,” Amu reportedly said. The minister also reportedly instructed the state-run Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) to serve legal notices on the errant tanneries. After receiving the instructions from the Industries Minister, BSCIC reportedly prepared a list of 28 tanneries which had very little towards relocating to Savar. However, later, BSCIC is said to have dropped names of three tanneries from the list as those had started developing their sites in Savar.
According to reports, the leather factories located in Hazaribagh have been a major reason for contamination of the Buriganga River, as they released thousands of litres of untreated and toxic liquid into the river, thereby posing serious health risk to humans.
