Radio Mundo Real

The High Court of Bangladesh ordered on March 6th the immediate closure of the tanneries operating in the district of Hazaribagh, of the capital Dhaka, and which have failed to relocate to the Tannery Industrial Estate in Savar.

The court also ordered the disconnection of utility services, including gas, power and water, to the tanneries as they were damaging the environment violating the court’s earlier directives.

The court order was a response to a petition submitted by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) – Friends of the Earth Bangladesh, that goes back to 1994.

According to the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star, last year the tannery factories at Hazaribagh produced every day about 21,600 cubic meters of environmentally hazardous liquid containing chemicals such as chromium, sulphur, ammonium, salt and other chemicals.

Real World Radio interviewed today BELA’s Chief Executive, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, to know the specifics of this case. Rizwana was awarded with the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize 2009 for the Asia region, for her efforts in the conservation of the environment.