Several environmentalist groups yesterday urged the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a written statement to cancel the controversial Rampal power plant project to save the world’s single largest mangrove forest.
Led, by Bangladesh Poribesh Bachao Andolon (BAPA), the environmentalists stated that the Sundarbans, unique for its biodiversity and a protection against natural disasters, would be destroyed if the coal-fired power plant was set up near the forest.
With the financial assistance of an Indian power company, the government is currently setting up a 1,320MW coal-fired power plant some 10 kilometres from the Sundarbans, which was earlier declared as an Ecologically Critical Area.
Environmental experts warned that implementation of the proposed power plant project would destroy the ecosystem, biodiversity and wildlife of the world’s largest mangrove forest.
The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, India, which is setting up the plant, has been unable to implement such a project in India as the country’s Environmental Impact Assessment Guide Line 2010 prohibits power plants within 25km of forest lands.
Bangladesh ranks among the countries that have the lowest energy consumption per capita, and is in dire need of energy for its future development. To meet the demand, the government has been trying to increase power generation from a range of sources, and Rampal and Orion plants are part of the measures.
Prof Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University, Khushi Kabir, coordinator of Nijera Kari, BAPA General Secretary Abdul Matin, Advocate Sultana Kamal and Syeda Rizwana Hasan of Bangladesh Environmentalist Lawyers Association were among the 19 signatories of the statement.