The Chandpur 150 Megawatt Power Plant, set up at a cost of Tk13bn, is one of the biggest of its kind in the country.
Up and running for nearly a year, the plant has yet to be inaugurated as the prime minister hasn’t been able schedule a date. But it has already run into problems and is at risk of being shut down.
The presence of excessive sand particles in the air has been causing the power plant to experience frequent halts.
The source of these particles is the flourishing sand business along the nearby Dakatia River, which locals claim is being conducted on illegally encroached upon land.
The plant has about 1,500 air filters to keep dust out of the machinery and each of the filters is supposed to last for at least six months.
However due to the large amount of sand in the air, these filters reach their maximum capacity at least twice or thrice a month, and power generation has to be halted for two to three days while the filters are replaced with cleaner ones.
Sources say authorities have to spend Tk1.4m to Tk1.5m per month to change changing these filters, resulting in losses amounting to almost Tk40m monthly.
Locals said the banks of the river Dakatia, south of the power plant, has become a sand business hub over the last few years.
Boats and trucks carry sand extracted from the Padma River and deposit them in huge piles along the Dakatia River’s banks. Wind then carries the sand particles towards the power plant.
Arefin Badal, assistant director of Chandpur’s environment department, said the sand was not just damaging the plant, but also putting the health and livelihoods of locals at risk.
“We served the business, which is being run on a 1.5km area - from the Chandpur public warehouse to Bagdi Road Majar - several notices, but the notices failed to have any effect,” he added.
Locals said the government has been unable to take any action against the sand traders, running their business on illegally grabbed land, because influential leaders within the ruling party are backing them.
A government probe team inspected the area two weeks ago and is likely to submit their report about the hazards caused by illegal sand trading to the environment department in a few days’ time.
A member of that team, the additional deputy commissioner (Revenue) of Chandpur Faridul Islam Majumdar, said they would recommend the removal of the sand business from the area.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation of the 150 megawatt combined cycle power plant on April 25, 2010.
Chinese construction firm Chengda Engineering Company set up the firm at Balur Math near Chandpur town, under the supervision of the Bangladesh Power Development Board.