Eight Savar tanneries fined for 'polluting environment'

The department of environment (DoE) on Wednesday fined eight tanneries at Savar Tannery Industrial Estate Tk 2.1 million for polluting the environment.

Rubina Ferdousi, director of the monitoring and enforcement section of DoE, conducted the daylong drive against the tanneries at Harindhora union in Hemayetpur.

The factories are: Kahinur Tannery, Unicorn Leather, Gulshan Tannery, Anjuman Trading Corporation Ltd, Velex Agencies Ltd, Kid Leather, Superior Leather and Tipara Tannery.

The DoE official said the drive against the tanneries will continue.

For the last few years, she said, the owners of eight tannery factories had been producing leather products by polluting the environment of Dhaleshwari river adjacent to the tanneries without obtaining clearance from the environment department.

People of different ages in the area are being affected with various diseases for the pollution, she said.

Acting on complaints from locals, they conducted the drive, the official added.

The owners of the factories were urged to take immediate clearance from the DoE and take effective measures to prevent pollution.

Additional police were deployed during the drive to avoid any untoward incident.