| Author | Latif, Khawja Abdul |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-97-02 |
| Subject(s) | Factory and trade waste--Purification--Bangladesh
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The rapid industrialization has been taken by the government of Bangladesh as its strategy to
develop economy, increase employment growth for alleviating widespread poverty and
reducing reliance on limited land for sustainable farming. The economy of the country is thus
changing from an agriculture base to a service and industrial one. So far the country has little
industrial base. The stock of very small big industry is mainly comprised of primary raw
materials based. Most of those are highly polluting to environment. In an effort to industrialize
the country, government is considering the pollution control management through a two-prong
approach, one is for the new industries that are coming up now and the other is for the old
industries that are already existing. One of such old industry is leather, which produces leather
from rawhides widely available in the country. The biggest cluster of tannery, factories are
located at Hazaribagh-a suburban area of the capital city- Dhaka. This cluster produces 75%
of total production of the country. The significance of this identity also lies in the fact that it
accounts for about five percent of the total export earning of the country. However the
industry's very survival is at stake because of severe pollution from tanneries and spatial
constraint due to its location in a densely populated city sub urban area.
Dhaka City Corporation clears off only 20% of the solid waste from the area. It is estimated
that 32,000 tons of solid waste per year from tanneries putrefies around the area. The total
polluted water of about 10,000 m3 per day flows through the drains and accumulates in the
depressions before emptying to the Buriganga river that has been the life line of the city
dewellers for ages.
Government has recently formulated rules and regulations and established organizations to
manage pollution from industries in general. Yet, organizational strength is meager to monitor
and enforce them at a local level. The recently enacted pollution control regulations are so
rigid that they ยท can be used to penalize the factories and ultimately close their operation in
Hazaribagh area. Although such action will prevent pollution, the country can hardly afford it.
Effective application of the rigid legal provisions in combination with economic incentive
based approaches can help to solve the problem of pollution, accommodating technical and
managerial support required by the tanners for reduction and prevention of pollution over
time.
The research for investigating the problem and seeking its solution included a sample survey
conducted among four groups of people identified as of central importance for the study. Field
observations, questionnaire survey, secondary information collection and informal discussions
with technical persons and sources and government officials related with the industry have
been the methods for collecting required information and data.
The study reveals that the problem has three dimensions viz., technical, behavioral and
managerial. The technical problem arises from the lack of know-how for better collection,
storage and processing of the rawhides. The behavioral problem originates from the lack of
incentive for adoption of better process and lack of demand for quality environment. The managerial problem is manifested in the failure of regulatory and service organization to
perform efficiently for controlling pollution from the industry.
On the basis of the existing situation and the present extent of application of regulatory
instruments to manage pollution from tanneries in Hazaribagh, recommendations are made for
constituting a self sustaining organization encompassing the standard economic and regulatory
instruments in .different stages of collection of hides and process at tanneries as identified by
this study. Suggestions are also made to solve the technical problem related with the pollution.
Above all participation formula of government, local bodies and residents in the area are also
suggested with due consideration to reach a comprehensive solution of the problem. |
| Year | 1998 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Amin, A.T.M. Nurul; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Visvanathan, C.;Lefebvre, B.G.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship;Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA);Canadian Universities Consortium (CUC); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology,1998 |