Another episode of the tragic saga of Savar ’s tannery, the new Bangladesh tanning district in which companies that have been affected by the Hazaribagh and the Buriganga river pollution disaster should have been moved 15 years ago. The last deadline for the move is this 30th of December but, according to our sources, the new designated area is likely to turn into a new Savar Hazaribagh. The treatment plant and water purification, the CEPT, is moving towards the final stage of preparation. However, in the meantime, to avoid government fines, 18 tanneries have already started working from raw to wet blue, discharging wastewater through the sewers to the tanks of the plant where it can’t be subjected to the minimum of the required treatments because it lacks one container for the recovery of chrome. Once filled, the tanks are roughly emptied into the nearby river where a plague of fish has been registered. Also the fleshing “disappears overnight” in dubious circumstances. The situation is described as “an absolute chaos” with structures, where the leather is worked, that are a mock of a plant where there is only a roof to cover the spinning drums. In the midst of all this, another paradox news comes from Dhaka. The capital’s government has just announced that the Savar Tannery Estate project is ready to enter the second phase of expansion with 200 acres, the opening for the transfer of other tanneries and new spaces for factories specialised in leather accessories. The photo is taken from the web edition of The Daily Star newspaper.
Bangladesh: the new Savar district likely to be worse than the old one
