14 top officials face contempt
The High Court yesterday issued a contempt of court rule on 14 present and former government officials for failing to ensure relocation of tannery industry from Hazaribagh to save the Buriganga river from pollution.
The HC order came following a petition filed by a human rights organisation on April 13.
About five years back, the court asked the officials, including the industries secretary and director general of the Department of Environment, to relocate the polluting tannery factories from Hazaribagh to a new industrial zone in Savar by April 30, 2011.
But the officials didn't take any steps to that end, leaving the Buriganga, the lifeline of Dhaka city, exposed to excessive pollution.
The tanneries in Hazaribagh discharge around 22,000 cubic litres of toxic waste into the Buriganga every day, according to the DoE.
In a 2012 report, the US-based Human Rights watch said the Hazaribagh tannery area is one of the world's most polluted places that affect health of people living around those.
In yesterday's ruling, the court asked Industries Secretary Mainuddin Abdullah, DoE Director General Raisul Alam Mondol, and 12 others to explain in two weeks why they should not be convicted of contempt of court for not complying with its order.
The HC on June 23, 2009 directed them to relocate the tanneries by February 28, 2010. It later extended the deadline for six months.
On October 30, 2010, the court gave them another six months to relocate those.
The industries ministry in 2003 took up a project to shift the factories to the new industrial zone in Savar. And 155 industrial plots were also allocated there for this.
But there has been no progress in relocating the factories due to negligence of those officials, and the delay increased the project cost to Tk 1,079 crore from Tk 175.75 crore over a decade, said government sources.
As the officials didn't take any steps for relocating the tanneries by the HC-set deadline, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the contempt of court petition with the HC against them on April 13.
Hearing the petition yesterday, the HC bench of Justice Md Akhtakul Islam and Justice Md Ashraful Kalam issued the rule.
Petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told the court that Dhaka's environment is being polluted, as the tanneries are yet to be removed.
These tanneries dump chemical waste into the Buriganga, polluting its water severely, he said.
The other 12 people served with contempt of court rule are former industries secretaries Md Zakir Hossain, Al Amin Chowdhury, AFM Sarwar Kamal, Soyeb Ahmed, Ayub Kadri, Nurul Amin and Sheikh Enayetullah, and former DGs of the DoE Nazibor Rahman, Khandaker Rashidul Haque, Hedayetul Islam, Omar Faruk and Khan Md Ibrahim Hossain.
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