‘Toxic contamination’ from Dinajpur battery factory kills 20 cattle

At least 20 cattle have died in one week after being contaminated allegedly by some toxic substances released from a battery factory in Fulbari upazila of Dinajpur.

According to the locals, the toxicity was created by an unauthorised battery factory which contaminated the soil and water of Dakkhin Basudebpur village of Aladipur union and Maheshpur village of Betdighi union. Quoting the local vets, villagers said that they were expecting massive contamination that would kill many more cattle in the upcoming days.

The battery factory was recently constructed in the Basudebpur’s Pakarbhanga area grass field near the Fulbari-Madila highway, where all these deceased cattle used to graze with many others.

“The fatalities occurred after they ate the grass from the field, and all of them had quite same symptoms; they suffered sudden breathing difficulties and seizures, moments before their eventual demise,” said Foyzur Rahman Mukul, a villager of Dakkhin Basudebpur.

He further said that two of his cattle have died on Thursday (December 2) and three on last Tuesday (November 30).

According to the locals of Mashespur, at least 20 cattle were killed after grazing on the grass field near the battery factory last week. A sense of fear is prevailing among them to lose rest of their cattle from contamination.

According to environmentalists, batteries are made from a number of different toxic materials, including acid, lead, nickel, lithium, cadmium, alkaline, mercury and nickel-metal hydride.

When batteries are not properly disposed of, the casing can disintegrate, and the toxic chemicals within can leach into the surrounding environment. The leaking material can contaminate the soil and water and some of the elements can accumulate in wildlife and humans, they said.

During a recent visit to the area on Thursday, the cattle rearers were seen in severe distress after losing their prized animals. While some of them were selling off rest of their cattle, others were slaughtering them to sell their meat locally.

The locals said that after the incident the factory owners had shut down the factory and fled away from the area to avoid any repercussions.

Md Dulal, the owner of the land on which the factory was built, said that he rented the land to the factory owners. “Immediately after receiving complaints from the locals, we have shut down the factory,” he said.

He further said, “I personally don’t think that the cattle died due to the factory as many other factors can also cause their deaths.”

Meanwhile, upazila’s livestock officer Ahsan Habib, told The Business Post that they are almost certain that the cattle had died because of the toxic contamination caused by the factory. “We have called a team of specialists from Joypurhat to investigate the matter,” he said.

Upazila Nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Riaz Uddin said they were informed about the incident and will take measures to investigate the matter shortly.

“We have contacted with the local livestock office and asked them to send a team. We will take punitive measures against the responsible people after the investigation is completed,” the UNO said.