Uncertainty looms large over the relocation of Hazaribagh tanneries to Savar Leather Industrial City due to failure of the authorities to install a chrome recovery plant (CRP), a vital part of waste management, at the site.
The authorities had earlier set April 30 as the deadline for relocating the tanneries and warned of shutting down their work by snapping their utility services, like gas, water and electricity, in a bid to force them to shift. But the deadline passed without further extension and the utility services were not snapped.
Already four to five tanneries are ready to begin production at the newly constructed tannery village of Savar, but they are unable to do so because of the absence of the CRP. The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has not yet made its central effluent treatment plant (CETP) fully operational, some factory owners told The Independent yesterday.
Green activists and owners of tanneries expressed their concern over the delay in completion of the CRP and other waste management plants at the site.
They alleged that the BSCIC authorities are playing hide-and-seek with them. When the tanners visit them, they keep silent without answering their queries on the CRP and other waste management work.
“There is an unseen force behind the stalemate over relocation of tanneries. It is obviously polluting the environment, including rivers and wetlands like the Buriganga from Hazaribagh's poisonous untreated waste. The pollution level is increasing day by day,” Abdus Sobhan, former additional director general of the department of environment, told this correspondent.
He questioned when the project was supposed to be completed fully by June this year, how did the local lawmaker give the tanners time upto Eid-ul-Azha to relocate their factories. The green activist was worried that exports may be hampered in the European Union (EU) markets, as the EU has a condition that it would not buy any leather products from Bangladesh if they are not produced in an environment- friendly way.
“Some 4-5 factories have already set up their production line, but failed to go into production due to lack of the CRP and other solid waste management plants,” he said.  
The owner of Reliance Leather Factory has suspended production at the Savar tannery village due to the present situation, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA), Md Shakhawat Ullah, told The Independent.
“The BSCIC authorities are yet to complete the CRP and dumping of solid waste management plants in the site. So, many factories are waiting for the BSCIC action in this regard,” he said in reply to a query.
At least 40-50 factories will go for production within one to two months, but all depends on the BSCIC’s work on the CRP and dumping of solid management plants, he added.
When contacted, project director of the Savar Tannery Industrial City, Abdul Qaiyum, refused to make any comment.