Nur Jahan :
On June 29 when speaking in the Parliament the Prime Minister criticized those who opposed the construction of a coalbased power plant, commonly known as Rampal Powere Plant, near the Sundarbans. Not one or two people, sixteen crore people of Bangladesh oppose it, so the project must be abandoned.
Though we do not consider Begum Roushan Ershad as the opposition leader, (What beat she can be called is the tamed LoO or partners in connivance), still we appreciate her for criticizing setting up the Rampal Power Plant and her concern about the nuclear power plant at Rooppur also seemed reasonable.
We hope she will act like an opposition leader and compel the government to abandon the plan.
Three French Banks have decided not to invest in the Rampal Project. This project violates the environmental impact assessment guidelines for coal-based thermal power plants.
On August 1, 2013 Department of Energy of Bangladesh approved construction, but then changed its stance and set 50 preconditions for the project. But the location of the plant, 14 kilometers from the Sundarbans, violates one of the basic preconditions which says such projects must be outside of a 25-kilometer radius from the outer periphery of an ecologically sensitive area.
The Rampal power station is against The Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with the preservation of wetlands. Bangladesh signed the convention in 1992. Sundarbans and Tanguar Haor are marked as Ramsar area. The authority of the global body expressed worry about the proposed plant.
The plant will need to import 4.72 million tons of coal per year. This massive freight will need about 59 ships each having 80,000-ton capacity that 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. Environmentalists say 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 throughout the life of the project.
The predictions made by the environment and ecology experts are that the plant will release toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide, thereby putting the surrounding areas and, most importantly, Sundarban at grave risk.
According to a report published in an English Daily, in past few years the Indian central and state authorities which deal with environmental concerns in India denied the proposal of NTPC to set up a similar coal-fired thermal power plant at Gajmara in Gadarwara of Madhya Pradesh over a number of points. NTPC failed to get approval of the Indian Central Green Panel (Green Tribunal) in 2010 for the construction of that coal-fired thermal power plant because a vast portion of double-crop agricultural land reportedly comprised the site, a similar situation to Rampal.
(Nur Jahan writes form Chittagong)
On June 29 when speaking in the Parliament the Prime Minister criticized those who opposed the construction of a coalbased power plant, commonly known as Rampal Powere Plant, near the Sundarbans. Not one or two people, sixteen crore people of Bangladesh oppose it, so the project must be abandoned.
Though we do not consider Begum Roushan Ershad as the opposition leader, (What beat she can be called is the tamed LoO or partners in connivance), still we appreciate her for criticizing setting up the Rampal Power Plant and her concern about the nuclear power plant at Rooppur also seemed reasonable.
We hope she will act like an opposition leader and compel the government to abandon the plan.
Three French Banks have decided not to invest in the Rampal Project. This project violates the environmental impact assessment guidelines for coal-based thermal power plants.
On August 1, 2013 Department of Energy of Bangladesh approved construction, but then changed its stance and set 50 preconditions for the project. But the location of the plant, 14 kilometers from the Sundarbans, violates one of the basic preconditions which says such projects must be outside of a 25-kilometer radius from the outer periphery of an ecologically sensitive area.
The Rampal power station is against The Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with the preservation of wetlands. Bangladesh signed the convention in 1992. Sundarbans and Tanguar Haor are marked as Ramsar area. The authority of the global body expressed worry about the proposed plant.
The plant will need to import 4.72 million tons of coal per year. This massive freight will need about 59 ships each having 80,000-ton capacity that 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. Environmentalists say 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 throughout the life of the project.
The predictions made by the environment and ecology experts are that the plant will release toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide, thereby putting the surrounding areas and, most importantly, Sundarban at grave risk.
According to a report published in an English Daily, in past few years the Indian central and state authorities which deal with environmental concerns in India denied the proposal of NTPC to set up a similar coal-fired thermal power plant at Gajmara in Gadarwara of Madhya Pradesh over a number of points. NTPC failed to get approval of the Indian Central Green Panel (Green Tribunal) in 2010 for the construction of that coal-fired thermal power plant because a vast portion of double-crop agricultural land reportedly comprised the site, a similar situation to Rampal.
(Nur Jahan writes form Chittagong)
