No ETP plan in 4 years

Environment ministry blames industrialists, seeks help from the top to end river pollution
After over four years’ futile negotiations with factory owners on preparing an action plan on setting up effluent treatment plant (ETP), the environment ministry is now seeking intervention from the highest level of the government.
State minister for forest and environment in a statement in parliament has blamed different factory owners’ associations for not cooperating with the move taken in 2005, which resulted in increased river pollution by rampant dumping of industrial wastes.
The state minister’s written reply to a notice on freeing the Buriganga and Shitalakhya rivers from pollution was placed in the House yesterday. Ruling Awami League lawmaker Asma Zerin Jhumu in the last session submitted the call attention notice.
The answer, however, mentioned Mostafizur Rahman as the state minister for forest and environment although Hasan Mahmud replaced him a few months ago. The forest and environment ministry has prepared the answer on the lawmaker’s notice.
The ministry said it formed a committee led by director general of the Department of Environment on August 13, 2005 and included representatives of various factory owners’ associations to prepare the action plan for setting up ETP at industries to reduce pollution. The committee was also asked to monitor the implementation of the plan.
The committee held two meetings on December 12, 2005 and April 26, 2006 to this end, but the progress in preparing the action plan was frustrating.
During the caretaker government regime, a meeting chaired by the then forest and environment adviser was held on March 22, 2007. The meeting fixed October 2007 as the deadline for setting up ETP in the factories. Any factory failing to set up ETP within the timeframe would be shut down, the meeting decided.
But the deadline did not yield the desired results as almost all the factories remained indifferent to the deadline.
Against this backdrop, special assistant to the chief adviser of forest and environment ministry on May 6, 2006 held an inter-ministerial meeting which decided that each of the associations will prepare their own schedule for setting up ETP at the factories under their jurisdiction and submit the schedules to the ministries of environment and industries by June 2008.
The state minister’s written reply mentioned that no progress was made by the given timeframe either.
Thereafter, the environment ministry extended the deadline till November 15, 2008. The ministry this time also did not get the desired response from the factory owners, said the state minister.
Finally, the last meeting chaired by the state minister for environment was held on April 12, 2009. The meeting decided that each of the factory owners’ association would prepare the schedules for setting up ETP and submit those to the ministries of environment and industries and FBCCI by June 2009, but the decision was not implemented, the state minister concluded.

Courtesy of The Daily Star