Dhaka – The Appellate Division Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order that directed the government to immediately shutdown the Hazaribagh tanneries and disconnect all their utility services, including gas line, power and water, as they missed several deadlines to relocate the factories to Savar.
The three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed a petition filed by tannery owners seeking a stay on the HC order.
“Now, there is no legal bar for the Director General of the Department of Environment to shut down the tannery industries at Hazaribagh and disconnect their all utility services following the apex court order,” Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association’s (BELA) chief executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan said.
The chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association filed an appeal petition before the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking a stay on the HC order.
In response to a petition filed by BELA, the HC bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md Salim had on March 6 directed the government to immediately shut down the tanneries operating at Hazaribagh in Dhaka.
The HC bench asked the ministries of home, environment, industries and inspector general of police (IGP) to assist the Department of Environment to shut down the tanneries.
The HC bench also asked the government to submit a report before the bench on April 6 after implementing its order.
When asked about the High Court order, Kazi Sarwar Imtiaz Hashmi, acting Director General of Department of Environment yesterday told The Independent that they will would take immediate steps to shut down all the tanneries that are yet to relocate from Hazaribagh to Savar.
“We will cut-off the gas lines, power and water lines to those factories after getting the copy of the court’s order. We will also seize all equipment so that they cannot run these factories,” Hashmi added.
In 2001, the High Court (HC) had directed the government to shift the factories from Hazaribagh to Savar, considering the critical situation of the Buriganga due to the discharge of highly toxic untreated chemical waste from tanneries. By 2003, untreated waste from more than 200 tanneries had virtually turned the Buriganga into a noxious pool.
Later, following a writ petition filed by BELA, the High Court in June 2009 directed the tannery owners to move the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar.
However, the government extended several times the relocation deadline following requests from the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, the implementing agency of the tannery estate project.
On December last year, the industries secretary issued a notice saying that no raw leather will enter Hazaribagh after March 31, 2017 and no tannery will operate there after March 31, 2017.
BELA, on January 3 this year, submitted the petition to the HC saying that the industries secretary cannot extend the time for relocating the tanneries from Hazaribagh without permission from the HC.
Advocate Fida M Kamal appeared for the BELA while Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh moved for tannery owners. – Staff Reporter
