The Department of Environment (DoE) has closed down the operation of seven tanneries at Tannery Industrial Estate in Savar for polluting the Dhaleshwari River by discharging untreated liquid effluents. The monitoring and enforcement cell of DoE head office and its Dhaka district office jointly conducted an enforcement drive at the Tannery Industrial Estate at Hemayetpur in Savar for discharging untreated liquid wastes, said a press release on Tuesday. Read: How the ghost of tanneries still haunts Hazaribagh The water and electricity supplies to the tannery units were cut during the drive , led by executive magistrate Ali Rajib Mahmud Mithun.

One can still smell Hazaribagh before reaching there despite the relocation of tanneries to Savar in 2017. Although the air quality of the area has somewhat improved, the stench of tanneries – garbage, cast-off leather scraps, and a toxic mix of acrid chemicals– remains. The reason is that the place is still home to leather processing. The River Buriganga continues to be polluted by the waste of dozens of small rawhide processing units still operating in Hazaribagh illegally. Cast-off leather scrap still lines the canals. READ: 8 Savar tanneries fined for polluting environment  Although tanneries have moved to Savar, some 20 kilometres to Hazaribagh's west, many tanners are still dependent on Hazaribagh to perform part or all of leather processing – cutting, drying, and colouring.