Tannery transfer in trouble

KOLKATA: The shifting of east Kolkata tanneries to the much-hyped new leather complex at Bantala is in a fix. Even as the Supreme Court judgement hangs like a Damocles’ sword, ill-preparedness of the government and half-hearted approach of the project promoters make the fate of the huge industry uncertain by the day. Efforts by the state government to coerce the tannery owners to pack up and move quickly by disconnecting water and power supply have turned the situation more volatile.
The operation, which started at Tangra on Saturday and continued at Topsia and Tiljala on Sunday with the backing of a massive police force, had limited success.Workers and owners have put up a unique joint resistance to the government move. There is some realignment of forces though. The CITU affiliates, absent on Saturday, joined in on Sunday. The owners, on the other hand, chose to lie low.
A meeting on Saturday was attended by representatives of tanners’ associations as well as the AITUC and AICCTU, apart from councillors Javed Khan of Trinamul Congress and Makhan Das of RSP. It pointed out that the state of things at the new complex could hardly be described as congenial for the units to move in. Even if they do, there is no question of starting production since the common effluent treatment plant, without which the pollution control board would not grant operational permission, does not simply exist. Absence of this will defeat the very purpose of the apex court order, which was to control pollution. Moreover, M.L. Dalmiya & Co. — the `build, operate and transfer (BOT) party’ — is supposed to collect the chrome waste for recycling from the factories through mobile pick-up vans.
But where would the factories store this waste, the tanners ask, unless underground reservoirs are built? They also point out that of the 12 zones in the new complex, zones 5 to 8 are yet to have the necessary power and water for construction, let alone for production. And beyond zone 8, the land has not even been properly developed. Though the West Bengal State Electricity Board has set up a 30 kv sub-station, the distribution network is incomplete.
The owners are now being told to pay the BOT party for that. Only a small fraction of the required 30 million litre per day water is available. The workers also complain of lack of infrastructure. A hospital was supposed to be set up, which is essential for the hazardous industry. “We had even proposed that if the government is unable to do it, we will pool our resources and build it if it gives us land. But there is no response,� said Babu Datta of the Calcutta Leather Tannery Workmen’s Union affiliated to AICCTU. Their demand for on-site housing or proper transport facilities has also met with silence.