Tanners now turn to polluting Dhaleshwari

-
After the Buriganga river, the tannery waste is now out to contaminate the Dhaleshwari, posing a serious environmental hazard.
Liquid waste together with hazardous chemicals from Savar tannery industrial estate is being dumped into the river through a pipe as the central effluent treatment plant is yet to be fully functional.
To save the Buriganga and its adjacent areas from pollution, tanneries have been relocated to Savar tannery estate from Hazaribagh, but now the tanneries have turned to poisoning Dhaleshwari.
Thus, the relocation is not doing any good as the CETP and other arrangements to prevent pollution at the new leather industry zone on the outskirts of the capital have not been ensured yet.
During a recent visit at Savar tannery village, this correspondent found chemical-mixed untreated tannery waste is being discharged in an open place due to poor drainage facilities. Later, the toxic waste is being outpoured in the Dhaleshwari through different surreptitious drains. 
As a result, the river is being polluted, leaving different species of fish and other aquatic animals under a serious threat of extinct.
Locals alleged that the tanners have been releasing the tannery waste directly into the river through some secret drains since the beginning of its operation.
Besides, a vast area of the estate is reportedly littered with solid tannery waste in the absence of a protected dumping yard.
Some 102 out of 154 tanneries have so far stared commissioning at Savar estate. But numerous problems, including deplorable road condition and slow progress in providing gas connection, have been causing sufferings to the relocated units.
Abdul Qaiyum, former tannery project director also Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation official, denied taking the responsibilities of the faulty tannery project.
He proposed for another Tk 500 crore project for installation of more technologies to stop the pollution.
The Department of Environment has found out presence of excessive harmful eleven elements by checking water of the Dhaleshwari. 

Environment experts opined if the quantity of the chemicals increases, the Dhaleshwari will seriously be polluted. 

In addition, if quantities of chromium remain high in water, it can cause various types of diseases, including cancer. If salt is high in the water, it can enter the human body through fish and cause various types of problems like high-blood pressure.
When contacted, Dr MA Motin, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, told Bangladesh Post, “The effluent treatment plant is not fully operational because of incomplete design and extreme mismanagement. The condition of Dhaleshwari is now the same as Buriganga. We won’t allow it to happen at all.”
He urged the authorities concerned to take immediate measures to establish proper the waste treatment plant to stop both water and environment pollution of the area.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cheating in name of 'sitting service' continues

-
Image
By Mehedi Hassan Munna There is an unabated cheating uptrend in the name of bus ‘sitting service’ in the capital. The majority of buses plying in the capital and its outskirts are being operated as sitting service ones, but only in name. Passengers allege that they are forced to pay additional fares and are facing hassles as these so-called sitting service buses make random stops to pick up and drop off passengers. There was a decision by the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) that banned the service from April 16, but it was later reviewed, and then came the decision to legalize the so-called sitting or gate-lock service, as interested bus owners were providing the same. While visiting some transport routes in the capital, this correspondent noticed that there was no distinct guideline either for sitting or local services. Mahfuz Towhid, a private firm employee who commutes from Sadarghat to Mohakhali through Ajmeri Glori, said , “I come from and go ...
Read more

Dholaikhal spews bitter-sweet taste

-
Image
By Mehedi Hassan Munna Dholaikhal, located on the bank of the river Buriganga, is famous as the country’s largest market for old motor vehicles and parts, and likewise, notorious as the hub for allegedly stolen cars and motorbikes. Along two sides of the road and footpaths, and inside a residential area, there are around 5,000 shops that sell second hand, normally termed ‘reconditioned’ chassis and parts of motor vehicles as well as other accessories. The shops employ nearly 50,000 people. The area is overpopulated for the trade and there is hardly any space to even walk freely. From nuts and bolts to heavy engines, chassis to bearings, wheel drums, springs and small parts of motor vehicles are available at Dholaikhal. Thousands of buyers come every day for their vehicle needs as the apparatus is good in quality, and cheap in price. However, thieves and snatchers countrywide, especially in Dhaka area, have reserved the place as their source of income. They steal moto...
Read more

Bahadur Shah Park sinking into atrophy

-
Image
    By Mehedi Hassan Munna Bahadur Shah Park, once the Victoria Park, the only strolling spot in the Sadarghat area of Old Dhaka, is gradually losing its real face and identity, due to inadequate maintenance and monitoring. The park bears witness to historical events of the British colonial rule in the Indian-subcontinent. It was built in 1858 at the initiative of Nawab Khwaja Abdul Ghani. Victoria Park until 1947, it was later named after Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor. It is learnt that most of its historic infrastructures, namely an Obelisk which commemorates the ascending of the throne of Queen Victoria as Empress of India and the British Empire, and a monument built in honour of the martyrs of ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ (the first attempt of revolt against the British rule, in 1857), during which a good number of mutineers, including a woman, were hanged to death at the spot and kept hanging there for a couple of days, are in a ramshackle condition due to...
Read more