Hazaribagh’s Tanneries, near Dhaka (Bangladesh), are among the most polluted in the world. It has been 15 years since the first announcement of their planned relocation to a specific industrial area in Savar, a Dhaka district. However, they still refuse to do so for several reasons among which there is also the claim that the ‘new area is not fully equipped yet’. As a result, who has moved its production to Savar has just changed the setting but still keeps polluting, whereas who remained in the old settlement constantly face pressure from the local government to move away. Meanwhile, Hazaribagh’s deteriorating conditions are so serious that in the last ten days two large fires broke out and destroyed two “leather factory”. According to local news, they were not tanneries but a garment and a small leather goods manufacturer. The 1st of December, Tanjid Moneybag Leather Factory burned down. The building was destroyed and four workers reported injuries: the 12 years old son of the owner, a 6-year-old boy, and two workers, aged 13 (the most serious, with burns on over 60% of his body) and a 17 years old. Six days later, flames also wrapped Rupali Composite a factory that manufacture that “from raw materials manufactures leather accessories such as shoes, handbags, small leather goods, gloves as stated on their corporate website. No one was injured, as at the time of the accident, the factory was closed. In the same time frame of these episodes, the analysis of a research centre revealed that the rivers and canals on which gravitates the Hazaribagh tannery are so polluted that it’s better to stay away, avoiding “swallowing, but also to dive, because the level of pollution reached is harmful to humans”. A similar danger was registered in India, in the long stretch of the Ganges where Kanpur tanneries are located, most of which – according to a group of environmental activists – are illegally discharging their waste (chromium in particular). The solution would be to move the tanneries in Banthar Leather Park Unnao. According to a representative of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, however, the move is “almost impossible” as in the designated area there would be room for only 25% of Kanpur’s tanneries.
Bangladesh: flames and 4 injured in two Hazaribagh “leather factory”
