Environment activists on Saturday urged the government to shift the Hazaribagh tannery immediately from the bank of the River Buriganga to save it from further contamination.
They also demanded establishment of effluent treatment plants in the industries at Savar.
They made the demands at a citizens' programme organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan in front of the National Press Club, said a press release.
The green activists said Hazaribagh tannery authorities were saying that it helped the country economically but the tannery had already destroyed Buriganga's water, fisheries and ecological system.
They said in 2010 the government took initiatives to remove wastes from Buriganga but the initiative failed as waste dumping from different sources, like Hazaribagh tannery, was not stopped.
The deadline set by the High Court to remove all tanneries from Dhaka to Savar expired in April while the owners of the tannery industry were trying to extend it, the speakers added.
BAPA general secretary Mohammad Abdul Matin, joint secretary JK Baral, Zakir Hossian, Mihir Biswas, Sharif Jamil, Alamgir Kabir and Shundar Jiban president M Sirajul Islam Molla were also present at the programme among others.
Source : New Age
