Are we going to kill Dhaleswari too?

We have been expressing our alarm about the continued degradation of the Dhaleswari river for an umpteen number of times and yet our concerns have fallen on deaf ears. We all know the reason - indiscriminate toxic waste being dumped into the river by the relocated tannery industry in the Savar area. The main point of the relocation was to stop the severe pollution of the Buriganga river caused by the tannery factories in Hazaribagh leaving it practically dead. If the leather factories continue to pollute another river despite the shifting, the entire process has been meaningless and counterproductive.

This newspaper and many other environmentalist groups fiercely supported and pushed the government's bid to relocate the tannery industry to Savar because we hoped that it would allow the valuable industry to operate in an environment-friendly manner. However, the news that the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) is not fully functional due to the electricity shortage and does not treat the waste and all harmful substances, comes as a major disappointment.

The relocation process has already been mired in controversy due to gross mismanagement, unpreparedness, and gas and electricity crisis, but the pollution of the Dhaleshwari river should be of our primary concern. If this pollution continues unabated, the Dhaleshwari will meet the same fate as the Buriganga.

We urge the government to address the issue immediately by ensuring that electricity is available in the industrial area and persuading the company responsible for the CETP to provide necessary chemicals to absorb all the harmful substances and waste of the factories. The government must act before it is too late to save the Dhaleshwari.