Leather tanning units in Kanpur, which came to life recently after a record nine-month long closure, have again been shut down till October 31.
This time, the UP Jal Nigam has ordered the closure as it has begun the cleaning process of 1,165 metres long deep sewer drain.
The tanners, obviously, are furious over the timing of the decision as regular closure of units has already deprived them of manufacturing orders in the overseas market.
“In the recently held leather fair in Italy, the leather industrialists from Kanpur failed to secure a single order from the buyers, who preferred Vietnam and Bangladesh,” said Taj Alam, president, UP Leather Association and former chairman of Council for Leather Exports.
The tanneries were first closed down in December last year due to the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj for a period of three months.
The closure was extended as the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) failed to run. The government allowed the tanneries to run in late August this year.
Little over month later, 122 tanneries have been asked to seize operation till the sewer line was cleaned.
Project manager of UP Jal Nigam Pankaj Yadav said the cleaning was on a war-footing.
“About 250 metres of drain has been cleaned and the remainder of it would be over by October 30,” he said.
“Due to frequent closures, the tannery owners have lost valuable orders from the foreign buyers as most of the tannery owners neither participated at the leather fairs organised at Hong Kong, Delhi and Italy nor those who participated ventured to book orders due to uncertain fate of tanneries. Now they have no interest to attend the fair to be held at Chennai,” Alam said.
“The reason is simple. When we are not sure how to execute the orders within the stipulated period on what grounds should we seek orders,” he said.
He said revenue losses due to tannery closure have been on an average Rs 200 crore per month. During the past 18 months, the state suffered a loss of over Rs 36,000 crore,” he added.
Sheezan Akhtar, a tannery owner, said that even if tanneries were allowed to run after October 31, they might again be closed during Magh Mela early next year. As such, how the production could be restored, he said.
President of Small Tanners Association Nayyar Jamal said, “In last five years no less than 200 small units have permanently been shut down. In most of the cases tannery owners even did not press the buyers for order considering the uncertain fate of the tanneries.”
