The authority of the Department of Environment (DoE) on Wednesday fined BSCIC Tannery Industrial Zone in Savar Tk 4,62,50,000.
The fine was imposed for polluting environment by keeping ineffective Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and releasing liquid waste into environment through surface drain and bypassing the waste.
The order has been made at the end of a hearing at the office of Department of Environment in presence of BSCIC authority. Rubina Ferdousy, Director (Monitoring and Enforcment) of DoE confirmed the matter to the Bangladesh Post.
“The news certainly not pleasant for the country as it could have a negative impact on the Tannery Sector. Moreover, the order has been given at a time while we are working to achieve Leather Working Group (LWG) license, as it is the future of country’s leather sector”, said Jitendra Nath Paul, Project Director of BSCIC tannery industrial zone on Thursday.
He added that, “It is true that we have some lapses, but that does not mean that the whole CETP is ineffective. There is little works left to complete the CETP, and we only need two months to complete the work. In addition, we all have to understand that this is a question of our leather sector’s future. This sector will be able to turn around after getting the LWG license. Moreover we are working to improve this industrial zone. Usually drain water overflows little in pick seasons and we are working to fix it. We need some time to fix all these issues”.
When asked, are there any mistakes in CETP’s plan, the official replied, the CETP has been constructed based on previous production capacity of the tannery factories, while it was in Hazaribagh area. Right now the CETP can process 25 thousand cubic liters water per day, whereas water increases at 50 thousand cubic liters in pick seasons.
Rubina Ferdousy said, earlier we collected samples from CETP and surface drain visiting the tannery industrial zone and sent it to lab. We later found proofs that CETP was ineffective and liquid wastes are removing into environment through overflowing and bypassing.
