Bangladesh Papers Mills fined Tk 30 Lakh

The Department of Environment (DoE) fined and realised Tk 30 lakh from Bangladesh Papers Mills at Simrail of Siddhirganj in Narayanganj after stopping its production yesterday for polluting the Shitalakhya river for the last 44 years.
The factory management said they would set up an effluent treatment plant (ETP) within November 30 and keep the mill closed till then.
The mill, established in 1967, produces 25 metric tonnes of recycled paper every day but never set up any ETP or had any environmental clearance certificate.
ETP is mandatory in paper and pulp industries as they fall in “Red category” of Environment Protection Law 1995 (amended 2010).
Under the law, DoE fined the managing director Rafiqur Rahim Tk 8,000 in 2001 and filed a case against the mill in 2008, but they continued pollution, said DoE sources.
DoE monitoring and enforcement wing Director Mohammed Munir Chowhdhury led the drive at the mill.
Experts present with the enforcement team calculated that the mill, so far, discharged around 80 lakh cubic metres of liquid waste directly into Shitalakhya river.
Mentionable, the government has declared Shitalakhya river as an “Ecologically Critical Area”.