Even after relocating tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar, pollution problems still follow: Minister

Even after relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar, issues surrounding river pollution still follow, Housing and Public Works Minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury said today (27 June).

“We fought to shift the tannery from Hazaribagh to Savar. But why didn’t the Savar Tannery Estate flourish? Why are we failing there? The reasons for which the tannery was shifted in the first place, still follow. The rivers in Savar are increasing pollution, not reducing it,” he said at a Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) seminar. 

Speaking at the seminar, titled “Making Cities Sustainable: Challenges and Imperatives for Bangladesh”, he said, “Urbanisation should not just be about constructing buildings, increasing facilities and livelihood. The issue of natural growth should also be kept in mind.”

In his chief guest speech, the minister said, “We have destroyed the Buriganga River in the name of urbanisation. Not only Buriganga, but the entire water system has been destroyed today. How to salvage it should also be linked to the planning for urbanisation.”

Dr Segufta Hossain, research director of the BIISS, presented the keynote paper. She said, “Rapid urbanisation and rural-urban migration is affecting nature, human lives, and resources. 

“Major cities of Bangladesh suffer from various management challenges including traffic, waterlogging, air-water-soil pollution, and earthquake risks.”

Dhaka University Emeritus Professor and Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) Chairman Nazrul Islam said planned and sustainable urbanisation is one of the crucial preconditions for economic development.