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Date Submitted: 09/02/2012 08:11 PM
Critical Environmental Issues Relating to
Tanning Industries in Bangladesh
S.M. Imamul Huq I
Abstract
I ndustrialisation has been rapid in B angladesh during the last decade, particularly in the
sectors o f leather, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals. However, these industries
are discharging and dumping their wastes and eflluents without treatment into nearby
water bodies. Tanning - one o f the oldest industries in the country - contributes to a
great extent. Most tanneries are in Dhaka, beside the River Buriganga into which they
flush their waste water. Studies have found high levels o f pollution at several points in the
river. Macrophytes in the river absorb various amounts o f nutrients and pollutants, but the
macrophytes are then eaten by livestock or humans. Other studies have measured heavy
metal species in soils and plants in the tannery areas that have been affected by tannery
waste. In g rasses, C r a ccumulates to concentrations exceeding the limits set by health
authorities, and the yields and performance o f rice and wheat are reduced.
TH ERE are a t p resent 2 14 t anneries in B angladesh:
2 00 o f t hem in t he city o f D haka and 1 4 o thers
scattered all o ver t he country. C overing a n area o f
2 5 ha, Hazaribagh in t he heart o f D haka c ity is t he
centre o f t he entire leather industry o f B angladesh.
N early 1 49 t anneries o f t he 2 00 p roducers o f
l eather a nd l eather p roducts a re l ocated in t he
H azaribagh area. Fifty three o f t hese 1 49 o perate
all y ear r ound (Enamul Haque e t al. 1 997).
T anneries in H azaribagh w ere s tarted in 1 960
by Punjabi traders from w hat w as t hen Pakistan.
T he i ndustries g rew a nd , after the i ndependence
o f B angladesh in 1971 , b ecame a ' cash c ow' to
e arn f oreign c urrencies. In t erms o f f oreign
e xchange e arnings, h ides and leather a re a mong
t he f ive l eading c ommodities in B angladesh
( Khatun and H uq 1 994 ; Enamul Haque e t...