The never-ending story of tannery relocation

It is very disconcerting to note that the government could not but again extend the deadline to relocate tanneries from the capital’s Hazaribagh area. This is for the eighth time the deadline has been extended and this time the extension of time is up to February 28. Last time when the deadline was December 31, everything looked encouraging and we thought that at long last the great environmental hazard of the capital could finally be shifted to Savar’s dedicated zone for tanneries. As 35 out of 155 tanneries have been relocated to the newly-built tannery village at Savar from Dhaka’s Hazaribagh, we are still unsure whether the owners of the rest 120 tanneries would be successfully able to meet the new deadline of February. 
The fact that tanneries could not be as yet shifted from the capital speaks volume about our negligence that we show to our environment. Hazaribagh tanneries have wreaked havoc to its surrounding environment and the Buriganga, one of the three major lifelines of Dhaka, the other two being Shitalakhya and Turag. The fact of the matter is Dhaka as a city primarily has grown on the bank of this river. It served as a route of trade and commerce in the region. The gaping river is still serving as a transportation route, but mindless dumping of industrial effluents including the wastes of tanneries to the river has made its water extremely polluted so much so that it has gone beyond any rectification. 
The still water of the river, poison rather, gives us an impression that there is no water here but a lying black sheet. The toxic and slimy liquid of the river has long ago destroyed its aquatic life including fish. Contrast the picture of Buriganga to a river of other countries. The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was right that tears come to eyes when one looks at Buriganga. It is to save this river and improving the environment of the capital, shifting of tanneries is so crucial. 
But the never-ending tannery relocation story is baffling us all. The failure has squarely made us to face this question: whether we are able to deal with a critical environmental problem, collectively. The sad aspect of our politics is that this kind of issue of immense public importance does not get the due political attention in Bangladesh. If we continuously fail to address a pressing environmental problem like shifting of tanneries, we will have nothing to offer to our future generations in terms of save living.    

 

The never-ending story of tannery relocation

It is very disconcerting to note that the government could not but again extend the deadline to relocate tanneries from the capitals Hazaribagh area. This is for the eighth time the deadline has been extended and this time the extension of time is up to February 28. Last time when the deadline was December 31, everything looked encouraging and we thought that at long last the great environmental hazard of the capital could finally be shifted to Savars dedicated zone for tanneries. As 35 out of 155 tanneries have been relocated to the newly-built tannery village at Savar from Dhakas Hazaribagh, we are still unsure whether the owners of the rest 120 tanneries would be successfully able to meet the new deadline of February. The fact that tanneries could not be as yet shifted from the capital speaks volume about our negligence that we show to our environment. Hazaribagh tanneries have wreaked havoc to its surrounding environment and the Buriganga, one of the three major lifelines of Dhaka, the other two being Shitalakhya and Turag. The fact of the matter is Dhaka as a city primarily has grown on the bank of this river. It served as a route of trade and commerce in the region. The gaping river is still serving as a transportation route, but mindless dumping of industrial effluents including the wastes of tanneries to the river has made its water extremely polluted so much so that it has gone beyond any rectification. The still water of the river, poison rather, gives us an impression that there is no water here but a lying black sheet. The toxic and slimy liquid of the river has long ago destroyed its aquatic life including fish. Contrast the picture of Buriganga to a river of other countries. The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was right that tears come to eyes when one looks at Buriganga. It is to save this river and improving the environment of the capital, shifting of tanneries is so crucial. But the never-ending tannery relocation story is baffling us all. The failure has squarely made us to face this question: whether we are able to deal with a critical environmental problem, collectively. The sad aspect of our politics is that this kind of issue of immense public importance does not get the due political attention in Bangladesh. If we continuously fail to address a pressing environmental problem like shifting of tanneries, we will have nothing to offer to our future generations in terms of save living.