Chemical industry shift to Sirajdikhan 83 percent done, target June 2027

The move to shift chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka to Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj is now in its final stages, following the tragic fires at Nimtoli and Churihatta. Eighty-three percent of the project work is already complete, and the rest is targeted for completion by June 2027.

But before moving flammable installations such as chemical warehouses and factories, the present government is giving importance to environmental management from the very start. The industries ministry wants an effective waste treatment system in place before the chemical industrial park opens, to avoid a repeat of the complications over the central effluent treatment plant at the Savar leather industrial estate.

Solving the effluent treatment plant issues is therefore being treated as a precondition for implementing the project. The ministry believes an effective waste treatment system must be in place from the first day a factory starts operating.

The modern chemical industrial park is being built on 308.33 acres on the bank of the Ichamati river in Sirajdikhan, Munshiganj, at a cost of Tk 1,454.80 crore.

These issues came up at a consultation meeting with stakeholders on the relocation of chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka, held on Monday at the industries ministry's conference room in Motijheel, Dhaka.

The meeting, chaired by Industries, Commerce and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, stressed coordinated participation by business organisations, public representatives, members of parliament and service providers to make the relocation smooth.

At the meeting, the minister said building infrastructure alone does not guarantee the success of such an industrial park. An effective waste treatment system must be in place from the first day factories open, and it would not be right to start the project's operations without resolving the effluent treatment plant issues.

He said a practical decision must be reached after discussions with all the parties concerned.

Special importance is also being given to involving businesspeople in the relocation process. The aim of bringing in the relevant associations, public representatives, members of parliament and heads of utility service providers is to create a sense of ownership of the initiative among all.

Considering past experience, a cautious position has been taken so that no new complications arise after the chemical warehouses and factories are shifted from Dhaka to Sirajdikhan.

Members of parliament Khondkar Abu Ashfaq, Hamidur Rahman and Md Abdullah, Industries Secretary Abdun Naser Khan and BSCIC Chairman Benazir Ahmed spoke at the meeting.