Tannery owners have sought permission from the High Court to operate their factories in the city's Hazaribagh until the Eid-ul-Azha this year, claiming that the Tannery Industrial Estate in Savar and its central effluent treatment plant were not fully ready for their relocation.

The Tannery Owners Association and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association jointly filed a petition with the HC in this regard on March 23.

The HC bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md Salim started hearing the petition yesterday. The court fixed today for resuming the hearing.

According to the petition, the process of providing gas connections to the industrial units in Savar was incomplete.

The environment pollution level decreased in Hazaribagh area as rawhide was not allowed in, tanners' lawyer Barrister Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury told The Daily Star, adding that construction of most of the Savar factories was yet to be completed.

Following another petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela), the same HC bench on March 6 directed the director general of the Department of Environment (DoE) to immediately shut the tanneries in Hazaribagh.

The court also ordered the DoE DG to snap utility service connections, including gas, power and water, to the tanneries as they were damaging the environment violating its earlier directives.

The ministries of home, environment, industries, inspector general of police and the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police were asked to assist the DG in complying with the order.

The HC asked the DG to submit a report after complying with its directives by April 6 and fixed April 10 for holding further hearing on the issue.

On March 12, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the HC directive and dismissed a petition filed by the chairman of Footwear Exporters Association seeking a stay on the HC order until June.

Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh argued for tanners, while Barrister Fida M Kamal and advocate Syeda Rizwana Hasan were present for Bela yesterday.