Tanneries to be shut down if not relocated in time

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu yesterday said the government will shut down tanneries in the capital's Hazaribagh if any of them fails to relocate to Savar Tannery Estate by June next year.

Allotment of plots to those factories will also be cancelled, he told parliament replying to a question from an Awami League lawmaker.

The government will take tougher measures to improve the environment in the capital, added the minister.

The new tannery estate, said Amu, has been set up on 199.40 acres of land in Savar and Keraniganj. The construction of all the infrastructure except for a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and a dumping yard has already been completed.

The construction of the CETP will be completed by next June. Efforts are on to relocate Hazaribagh tanneries by then as well. The project will be fully implemented by June next year, he mentioned.

Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has approved the layout plans of 152 industrial units out of the total 155 in the tannery estate. Of them, construction of 148 units has started, Amu told the House.

Nasrul Hamid Bipu, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, informed the Jatiya Sangsad that the government has no plan to lay gas lines in new areas due to a deficit in gas supplies.

“There is a deficit of at least 500 mmcfd gas against the daily demand in the country,” he said.

The government, however, has decided to install some gas connections to households in phases where gas lines have already been laid, mentioned Nasrul.