The country shut a provincial airport and evacuated hundreds of people from the vicinity of the Ruang volcano
Government to close down factories not using Effluent Treatment Plants
The government has decided to close down factories not using Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) even after installing them.
Published : 27 Jan 2016, 08:25 AM
Updated : 27 Jan 2016, 01:49 PM
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said a deadline will be given to install ETPs for those factories who have not yet installed them.
"It is very important to use the ETPs to keep the rivers around the capital free of pollution," he told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting was held to strategise on keeping rivers like Buriganga,Turag, Shitalakkhya and Balu free of pollution.
Local Government Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Environment Minister Anwar Hossain, Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif attended the meeting along with the mayors of Dhaka north and south city corporations.
Shajahan Khan said that industrial wastes are mostly responsible for pollution of rivers in Bangladesh.
Until now, fines worth Tk 1.8 billion had been slapped on different factories for not using ETPs, he told reporters.
The minister blamed tanneries in Dhaka for river pollution. “We have requested the industries ministry to set a deadline for shifting tanneries to Savar.”
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