Dhaka: Tannery owners have got another month to shift their machinery that process rawhide to wet blue leather, while three months to relocate entire industrial units from the city’s Hazaribagh area to Savar tannery estate.

The government on Sunday fixed the fresh deadlines asking the tanners to complete the shifting process of wet blue leather machines and machineries by January 31 and March 31 next respectively.

The announcement came from a meeting held between Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and leaders of tannery owners at the ministry.  

After the meeting, industries senior secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that tanners missed many deadlines earlier. But, the present deadlines will in no way be extended anymore.

“If the tanneries are not shifted within the deadlines (January 31 and March 31), electricity and gas connections of the factories will be disconnected…this is the final decision,” he said.

Earlier, there was a deadline that no rawhide would be allowed to be processed at Hazaribagh after December 31, 2016. But now the deadline has been extended to January 31 next, he said.

He warned that if anyone wants to carry rawhide to Hazaribagh after the new deadline, he or she will be resisted.

At the meeting, it was informed that construction works on 86 plots out of 154 plots at Savar tannery estate have already been completed, while the construction works continue on other 35 plots.

Meanwhile, 37 tanneries have started processing rawhide in the designated leather park.