The National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas-Mineral Resources, Power and Ports on Saturday again demanded the relocation of the Rampal coal-fired power plant project arguing it would gradually destroy the Sundarbans, a Unesco World Heritage site.
The committee Member Secretary Prof Anu Muhammad said, if the plant is built so close to the forest, it would destroy the ecological balance of the country’s lone mangrove forest and the adjacent areas as it would produce a huge amount of toxic gases, airborne ash and waste materials, which are extremely harmful to the environment.
He was briefing reporters at the city’s Mukti Bhaban auditorium, informing the media about its scheduled long-march programme from Dhaka to the Sundarbans- due to take place from September 24-28- in protest over government plans to install the plant in Rampal.
The platform claims that the government has been conducting the project just 14km from the Sundarbans to “please India.” The project will use a technology, which in India is prohibited from being employed within 25km of any forest.
The 1,320 megawatt power plant project will be constructed in a 50-50 partnership between Bangladesh and the NTPC, the Indian state-owned power generation company. Three agreements were signed in April regarding the project which could begin operations in 2017.
“The NTPC failed to set up similar thermal power plants in the Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamilnadu states of India,“ Prof Anu said.
To install the plant, the government has already acquired 1,834 acres of land from private owners in Rampal, Bagerhat, on the banks of the river Pashur. The government claims that the plant will not harm the forest as it will use modern technology and a lot of money will be spent on environmental management. At present, land-filling work is underway at the site and the prime minister is expected to inaugurate the construction work early next month.
The committee also described the deal with the NTPC “extremely unequal” since it would incur the country’s financial losses. According to the contracts, both countries will invest 15% of the project cost while the rest will come from India in the form of a loan.
Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah, convener of the national committee, said because of the loan for 70% of the cost, “Bangladesh will have to buy the materials for the power plant as per the directives of India.” Bangladesh would also bear the interest of the loan while India would enjoy equal profit sharing.
Kallol Mustafa, an engineer and activist of the platform, said: “We have been told by the government that the joint venture company will be equally owned. So, they are supposed to take the responsibility for any environmental and financial losses.
“But we are not sure what is actually written in the agreements the government signed so far,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
