Dredging Passur river to destroy aquatic resources

A STUDY reveals that dredging in the Passur river channel for plying the coal-laden vessels from India to the proposed power plant at Rampal in Bagerhat will destroy fish and other aquatic resources. The New Nation quoting the study said that as 33 million tonnes of silt and mud will be removed from the river Passur to the Bay of Bengal through massive dredging, different species of fishes and aquatic resources will be damaged. People from all social strata have been protesting the government’s anti-environmental move to set up a coal-based power plant near the world largest mangrove forest but the government’s stubbornness to destroy the forest at the cost of merely a power plant is ridiculous and unacceptable.

Dr William Kleindl of Montana State University and Dr Jon Brodie of James Cook University, Australia prepared the study and presented findings on Saturday. The government is going to dredge the outer bar in the Passur Channel at a depth of 7.5 metre so that large ships can sail into it but the dredging will destroy the underwater zooplankton, algae, flora and fauna that will endanger the food chain and have a negative impact on aquatic resources. Besides, sound and light pollution during the river dredging will also create a situation of disequilibrium in the forest and rivers, resulting in fishes and animals to change their habitats in search of food.

Dredging will be done from the Jetty No-9 of Mongla Port up to 13 kilometres upstream to ensure navigability of the river so that imported coals can reach the power plant easily. Under the project, 38.81 lakh cubic metres will be dredged and 3.28 lakh cubic metres of earth will be needed for constructing embankments. The construction time impact is seemingly incalculable, so how far the impact of the coal-based power plant puts on the ecosystem of the Sundarbans is unimaginable and irreparable.

When low-quality coal remains unused in India due to cancellation of “ultra mega power plants” for modernizing and diversifying Indian electricity sector, Bangladesh blindly is heading towards destroying Sundarbans by importing the low-quality coal for the plant. Since the government first expressed their intention to ruin the Sundarbans, environmentalists and activists have been strongly advocating for relocation of the project. But they were not successful in pulling the government from materializing the wishes of our neighbour.
We feel, there are many alternatives for power generation, but there is no alternative of Sundarbans. The need for electricity is undeniable, but the method to attain it should be sustainable and eco-friendly. This blind quest for electricity to light up the nation could end up casting a permanent shadow of darkness. Bangladesh can still now reverse from its move to destroy the shield of cyclones and storms.