Only 35 tanneries out of 154 have relocated to Savar Tannery Industrial Estate from the capital's Hazaribagh within the December 31 deadline.

Syed Abul Maksud, vice president of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), said they want a clear explanation from the government about why only 35 factories were shifted to Savar within the time limit.

He was addressing a press conference organised by Buriganga Riverkeeper, a green platform, at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday.

The government should have organised a press conference in this regard, Maksud added.

Sharif Jamil, joint secretary of Bapa, said several units of the industrial estate, including the solid waste management plant, chrome recovery plant and salt purification plant, were yet to be built.

As a result, the Dhaleswari river near the estate was being polluted by the waste from tanneries, he alleged.

Sharif demanded the government take immediate steps to construct all the units of the industrial estate at the earliest.

Talking to The Daily Star, Director Abdul Qaiyum of the tannery relocation project said the authorities will not extend the relocation deadline.

"We are facing difficulties in running the CETP in Savar as a minimum of 10,000 cubic metres of waste is required to run it perfectly. But we are receiving only 3,000 cubic metres of waste everyday from tanneries," he said.

A minimum of Tk 500 crore is required for setting up the salt treatment plant, Qaiyum said, adding that the construction of the chrome recovery plant will be completed soon. A leader of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association said about 80 percent of pollution occurs during processing hides to wet-blue leather.

After the 35 factories, five more will be shifted to Savar by this month. These 40 tanneries do 95 percent of the processing, he told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.

Abul Kalam Azad, president of Tannery Workers Union, said although the government is relocating ternaries to Savar, there is no residential facility for workers near the industrial estate. He feared this would be a big problem for workers.

Both the government and tannery owners were not paying any attention to the issue, he alleged.