More than half a million rawhides have arrived at the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate over the past three days surrounding Eid-ul-Adha. Md Mehrajul Maiyan, executive engineer of the BSCIC office at the tannery estate, provided the information on Saturday afternoon.

In total, 527,676 rawhides were transported to the industrial estate on 1,712 trucks between 12 pm on Thursday and 10 am on Saturday, according to Mehrajul Maiyan. Of these, 511,540 were cattle and buffalo hides, while 16,136 were goat and sheep skins.

A visit to the industrial estate found trucks carrying rawhides arriving at tanneries throughout the day. No major disorder was observed from the main entrance of the estate to the tannery premises. Workers remained busy unloading, preserving, and salting the hides.

“The hides arriving at the industrial estate are being preserved and processed quickly. To manage the additional pressure during Eid, BSCIC, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Commerce, the district administration, local authorities, and law enforcement agencies are working in coordination. Special preparations have also been taken for the transportation and management of hides,” Mehrajul Maiyan said.

Officials stationed at the main gate of the estate said the first truck carrying sacrificial animal hides entered the industrial estate at around 12:30 pm on Thursday, the first day of Eid. The flow of hide-laden vehicles increased steadily as time passed.

A large portion of the hides arriving earlier in the day were fresh, blood-stained rawhides, they added. After reaching the tanneries, workers quickly applied salt to preserve them. Many hides are brought directly to the industrial estate for immediate sale after sacrifice and therefore are not salted beforehand.

People associated with the tannery sector said additional precautions have been taken for hide collection and preservation as Eid-ul-Adha marks the industry’s busiest season of the year. Despite many tanneries already having some stock of hides, fresh collection activities are also continuing in full swing.

Industries and Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muqtadir visited the Tannery Industrial Estate on Friday afternoon. During the visit, he toured several tanneries and discussed the industry’s current state, production activities, and environmental management with tannery owners.