Staff Reporter :
The government is in dilemma over implementing the 1320 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant at Rampal, adjacent to the Sundarbans, due to possible devastating environmental impact of the project on the world’s largest mangrove.
On August 2013, an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) was done on 1834 acres of land that were mostly agricultural and shrimp aquaculture pond (gher), acquired for the proposed power plant project. That was reportedly done by the government without the consent of the people, but by police and local thugs.
“Both Bangladesh and India jointly decided to construct this large thermal power plant within 14 kilometres of the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, ignoring rules and regulations. The preparatory work for the construction of the plant is also underway,” Sultana Kamal, an environmentalist and civil rights activist told The New Nation yesterday.
She said the power plant will need to import 4.72 million tons of coal per year. This massive freight will need about 59 ships, each having a capacity of 80,000-ton, that those would be taken to the port on the bank of Poshur river. The 40 kilometers from the port to the plant cuts through the Sundarbans and it includes the river flow path, she said.
Sultana Kamal, also chairperson of TIB, said the government has been pursuing tricks in implementing the Rampal power plant. It (government) has been simultaneously discussing the issue with environmentalists and implementing the power plant as well.
Now the government recognizes the environmental concern as local environmentalists once again urged the government to cancel the Rampal power plant project, saying it would pose an environmental threat to the Sundarbans.
Environmentalists claim these coal-carrying vehicles are not often covered as they scatter large amounts of fly ash, coal dust and sulfur, and other toxic chemicals are released through the entire life of the project.
They have long been demanding that the project be scrapped for protecting the Sundarbans, a world heritage site declared by the UNESCO. The forest lies both in Bangladesh and India.
Recently, Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju told Parliament that the Department of Environment (DoE) is yet to provide any environmental clearance for the 1320MW coal-based Rampal thermal power plant.
As per Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in August 2010 between Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and India’s state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in which they agreed to implement the project by 2016.
Though the government has signed several agreements with India to implement the Rampal power plant project, the concern of UNESCO and local environmentalists can not overcome so far.
Reality is that, different international organizations, including French banks Crédit Agricole, in 2015 said, they would not fund the Rampal power station, after sustained public opposition to the project over its social and environmental effects.
In December 2014, the council on ethics of Norway released its assessment of the country’s government pension fund global’s investment, valued at US$56 million, in the thermal plant. It recommended the fund exclude the project from its portfolio “due to an unacceptable risk of the company contributing to severe environmental damage”.
In March 2015, the Guardian reported that the Norweigan pension fund would likely pull funding from the Rampal plant due considering environmental effect of this power plant.
Loans are expected to fund up to 70 percent (pc) of the US$1.5 billion project, while India and Bangladesh will fund the remaining 30 pc equally (15pc each). However, the Bangladesh Planning Commission refused approval, saying the project was not compliant with the country’s existing policy nor was the funding and ownership of the plant clear. This leaves even the 15 pc Bangladesh stake in the project uncertain.
On August 1, 2013, Department of Environment of Bangladesh approved construction of the project. But in September 2013 DoE changed its stance and set 50 preconditions for the project. The location of the plant, 14 kilometers from the Sundarbans, violates one of the basic preconditions which say such projects must be outside a 25-kilometer radius from the outer periphery of an ecologically sensitive area.
Environmental activists contend that the proposed location of the Rampal station would violate provisions of the Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Convention, to which Bangladesh is a signatory, is an international environmental treaty for the conservation of wetlands. The Sundarbans are on Ramsar’s list of wetlands of international importance.
“According to India’s EIA [Environmental Impact Assessment] Guideline 2010, no power plant can be built within 25 kilometres of forests but in special cases it said 10 km is permissible. But, the same rule was not followed in Bangladesh’s case,” the environment activists claimed.
The environmentalists who include former caretaker government adviser, Sultana Kamal called upon the government to refrain from implementing coal-based Rampal thermal power plant to save the Sundarban from destruction.
Referring the issue, Sultana Kamal said, “Do not call us anti-development forces, we fought for the country and struggling for make the country a prosperous one, I lost my brother, relatives and friends in the Liberation War and worked at a field hospital where we provided medical services to the injured muktihuddhas, still we are working for the prosperity of the country, so do not raise any question against our patriotism, we all are here as we felt that the Rampal will ruin the Sundarban, we are not against the plant, we are against the site,”. she told a consultation meeting at Bidyut Bhaban recently.
The Power Division organized the meeting between the environmentalists and officials of the Division but it failed to reach a conclusion on Rampal Power Plant. Both the sides discussed for four hours and tried to convince each other, but finally stuck to their respective positions on the issue of Rampal power plant project and its impact on the Sundarbans.
After the meeting State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid, told journalists such `dialogue` will continue in future, if necessary. However, he said the minutes of the meeting would be placed before the Prime Minister, the line minister of the ministry.
In the meeting, Prof Anu Mohammad, said this power plant should be cancelled since it will destroy entirely the Sundarbans. `We can only discuss the alternative location of the Rampal power plant.
This power plant will be the source of rivalry between Bangladesh and India, he said.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won the Champion of the Earth award and she should cancel this power plant showing respect to this award,” Anu said.
