A writ petition has been lodged with the High Court seeking a direction to stop the construction of Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
The petition urged the court to direct the government to form a committee that includes national and international experts for giving a report assessing the impacts of the proposed power plants on the environment and the lives of the common people of the surrounding area, and sought a stay order on the activities of the project till the committee issues a final report.
Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid on Sunday filed the petition on behalf of four lawyers, including Asaduzzaman Siddiquee and Aklas Uddin Bhuiyan. Murshid said the bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Jafar Ahmed would hear the matter today.
He told the Dhaka Tribune: “two writ petitions on the Rampal plant were lodged mentioning that the project had not any clearance from the department of environment. At present the clearance has been given. In our petition we asked the court to give the order to form a committee comprising of international and national experts in this sector.”
The petition urged the High Court to direct the government to take necessary steps to protect the Sundarbans from damages to the ecosystem and the local environment. It also asked the court to order the government to set up the power plant in any environment friendly area as advised by the committee.
The department of environment in early August approved the Environment Impact Assessment, prepared by CEGIS for the Power Development Board, which the campaigners rejected as flawed.
Indian state-owned National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) will build and operate the plant, planned on 1,834 acre land on the bank of Pashur River near the Sundarbans.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to inaugurate the plant’s construction work on October 22.
