Bangladesh: Factories required to control pollution by 2010

Date: 24 Jun 2009

The Bangladesh High Court has said that industrial firms should put effluent treatment plants in place by 2010 or be shut down. High-impact tanneries are being required to move out of a city centre location.

The move follows a petition from the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association and Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh. A law passed in 1995 that should have required the installation of such equipment has been widely ignored, with pollution an ongoing problem. The court ordered the government and regulators to carry out enforcement of the law.

New plant will not be allowed to be set up without proper procedures and checks in place to ensure reduced environmental contamination.

Bangladesh has one of the most fragile environments of any country, with its 150m people highly dependent on the country's rivers - many of which are heavily affected by pollution. For instance, the Buriganga river, which flows past Dhaka, has become one of the most polluted rivers in the country, with all its fish dying and waste leaving it stinking so badly it is difficult to even row across it.

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