The National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans has demanded the cancellation of the environmental clearance awarded by the government to the proposed Rampal power plant near the forest.
The committee claimed that the Department of Environment (DoE) had given the green light only to make the government happy and it had not considered the actual damage the Rampal Thermal Power Plant might inflict on the ecology of the world’s largest mangrove forest.
“The DoE approval with no-objection for establishing the thermal power plant beside the Sundarbans is a clear reflection of the government’s desires,” said Dr Abdul Matin, member secretary of the committee, at a human chain Friday.
On August 1, the DoE released the Environmental Clearance Certificate for setting up a 1320 MW thermal power plant at Rampal.
Environmentalist groups working to block the project fear it will severely harm the Sundarbans.
The committee, led by Transparency International Bangladesh Chairman Sultana Kamal, was formed on July 20 with an aim to protect the Unesco world heritage site from the threats posed by the proposed development.
On September 7, the government imposed section 144 in Foilahat near Rampal that foiled a public gathering organised by the committee to protest the government decision to set up the power plant in the area. In response, the human chain was organised at the capital’s National Press Club Friday.
Dr Abdul Matin, member secretary of the committee, accused the government of violating its own rules by setting up a coal-based power plant so close to the Sundarbans, which is also an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).
The government’s ECA rules prohibit the setting up of any kind of industry that will produce toxic matter within 10km of such an area.
