Poultry feed prepared from toxic tannery wastes again
Audity Falguni of DOT
2019-8-21, Dhaka: Venue has been relocated but not the incident. Earlier poultry feed used to be made of toxic tannery wastes in Hazaribagh. Now the same thing is happening in Savar.
Commercial poultry farming has witnessed huge growth in Bangladesh over last one decade. It is now known as quite a profitable business. And preparing poultry feed and supplying those to the poultry farm is also profitable. Per annum demand for poultry feed in our country is around 40 lakh metric tons. It is estimated that poultry feed worthy of around 20 thousand crores is sold every year as counting the price of each kg of poultry feed at 40 taka. A total number of 218 institutions are supplying these poultry feed. But toxic tannery wastes are now being found in the poultry feed of some of the companies. Food of chickens and ducks are getting prepared from the toxic ingredients of tannery wastes. As a result the poultry chickens and ducks too are getting toxic.
Earlier tannery wastes were found in the poultry feed manufacturing factories of Hazaribagh. The situation has not changed even after relocation of the industries to Savar. Department of Animal Resources has cancelled the registration of around three poultry feed supplier and producer organizations.
According to the sources, approximately 1 lakh 15 thousand tons of tannery wastes have been found in three poultry feed manufacturing factories. Of these, around one lakh ton wastes were found in Verkutat, two thousand tons in Amin Bazar and three thousand tons in Varkuta Megrakanda area of Savar.
Earlier a number of toxic poultry feed factories flourished besides the tannery industry of Hazaribagh in Dhaka. Recently these tannery industries have been shifted to Hemayetpur area of Savar. A number of waste burning farms are being built up at the northern most corner of the tannery industry township of the Harindhara village at Tentuljhora union of Hemayetpur. Around 40 waste burner ovens are there where the toxic poultry feed are being prepared.
Some unscrupulous businessmen are manufacturing poultry feed by burning the tannery wastes either in public or in secrecy and supplying those to farms of various areas in the country. Such hazardous feed mostly contain chemical chromium, sulfuric acid, lime, soda, formica, chloride, sulfate, aluminium sulfate etc. All these hazardous and toxic elements reach human bodies via chicken and fish.
Assistant Director of the Department of Animal Resources Dr. ABM Khaleduzzaman said, “Some unscrupulous businessmen are trying to supply tannery wastes to the poultry farms. We are taking necessary legal action against them by operating collective mobile court on a regular basis. Registration of some institutions have already been cancelled on the alleged ground of mixing tannery wastes in poultry feed.”
Sources in the Animal Resources Department said that poultry feed industry is one of the most promising sectors in Bangladesh. Each year purchasing and selling of around 20 thousand crores are conducted in this sector. Approximately 75 percent of maize and soya beans, two major ingredients of poultry feed, are produced in Bangladesh. Rest are imported from India and Brazil.
Source: Bangla News.