Banned poultry feed processing from tannery wastes begins at Savar
Poultry feed processors of Hazaribagh shifted their facilities to Savar to recycle tannery wastes and continue their illegal business flouting court orders in place since 2011.
Feed makers recycle toxic tannery waste and supply poultry and fish feed ignoring ban imposed by the High Court Division which was later upheld by the Appellate Division.
The feed makers relocated to Savar even before all the tannery factories were shifted from Hazaribagh to the Tannery Industrial Park at Savar.
Some of the feed makers already began collecting wastes from the tannery factories that had shifted to Savar.
Savar Model police station inspector Md Wahiduzzaman, who also heads the tannery estate police camp, told New Age Wednesday that the facilities for making poultry and fish feed were dismantled last month.
Even then, he said, that some of the feed makers were still making poultry and fish feed using clandestine facilities.
During recent visit to the new Tannery Industrial Park, New Age came across
at least six crude facilities for processing poultry and fish feed hardly 200 yards from the tannery park.
Feed processing workers said that tannery waste per pick-up costs Tk 3,000.
They said that their company uses its own pick-up to collect dried wastes at night.
Instead of dumping the toxic wastes, tannery factory owners illegally sell them to the feed makers.
The enforcement authorities took no action either against the tannery owners or the feed makers, locals told New Age.
Feed makers said that they have to grease so many palms to continue in business and meet the huge demand for poultry, fish and animal feed amid obvious risks.
On April 8, the Appellate Division upheld a High Court verdict of July 21, 2011 that had asked for stopping poultry and fish feed production using tannery wastes as raw materials.
The HC gave the verdict after hearing a public interest writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh in 2010.
The HC had also ordered shutting down feed making facilities within a month.
The HRPB writ petition pointed out that tannery wastes contain around 30 types of toxic chemicals including acid, chromium salt and sodium chloride that cause cancer.
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation officials said they were yet to take any action against the banned feed makers.
The tannery park is under construction at Savar since 2003 for relocating 154 tannery factories from Hazaribagh.
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