Staff Reporter :The High Court (HC) Division of Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the owners of 154 tanneries situated at Hazaribagh area in the capital to pay Tk 50,000 per day each as compensation for damaging environment. The HC bench comprising Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Shahidul Haque passed the order upon a petition filed by Advocate Manzil Murshid. The companies will have to deposit the compensation in the state fund until they relocate to Savar area where they have to shift their leather processing plants as the government has allocated land for tannery factories there. The court ordered the secretary of industries to submit a report whether the companies paid the compensation to the government treasury by July 17. The court also directed the secretary of Environment to submit a report by July 17, assessing the damage of environment of Buriganga River due to the waste of tanney. The High Court in it several orders directed them to relocate their factories to Savar by 2010 and again extended the time till 2013. The owners are still running their tanneries in violation of the High Court order, which is contempt of court, said Manzil Murshid, President, Human Rights and Peach for Bangladesh (HRPB).Upon a petition filed by Manzil Murshid on April 12, the High Court ordered the Industry secretary to submit a list of the tanneries still operating at Hazaribagh with detailed information by June 13.Accordingly the industries secretary submitted a list of 155 tanneries, which are still operating at Hazaribagh in violation of HC order. Of the listed tanneries, Reliance Tannery Ltd has already relocated their factory to Savar. The rest of the companies have to pay the compensation of Tk 50.000 (fifty thousand) every day until they relocate their factories to Savar, added Manzil Murshid.
