Tanneries asked to shift to CLC immediately

West Bengal government yesterday issued a strong warning to tanneries in Tiljala, Topsia and Tangra areas telling them to move immediately to the Calcutta Leather Complex (CLC).

Sabyasachi Sen, secretary for commerce and industry, government of West Bengal, said the response from the tanneries was poor. "The infrastructure is ready for relocating tanneries. But nobody is ready to start operation," Sen said.

Speaking to newsperson at the sideline of an interactive session with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Sen said tanners had not kept the promise it made to industry minister Nirupam Sen when he visited CLC a month ago.

"The minister was told that at least 15-20 units would start operating by December. I have received feedback on Wednesday that not a single unit is ready to begin work this month. This can not go on and we have to take strong action," Sen pointed out.

Some units were still tanning within city despite the clampdown on such activities by Supreme Court. The government plans to carry out regular action against them. When the first attempt was made to cut supply electricity line and water connection in tanneries, it met with strong resistance. However, the last raid, done couple of months ago, did not resulted in much trouble.

Sen said the government was seeking co-operation from all industry body including Council For Leather Export (CLE) to enforce the relocation.

Sen informed a special economic zone (SEZ) was likely to come up within CLC. There was also a proposal from Indian Leather Products Association (ILPA) to develop another SEZ outside CLC, he noted.