Save Sundarbans
An article by Jeremy Hance was published in The Guardian on March 2, 2016. It was about Bangladesh governments plan to set up two coal power plants on the edge of the World Heritage listed forest ¾ the Sundarbans.
The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and ports has arranged a long march on March 10th to persuade Bangladesh government to drop its backing for construction of the plants near the Sundarbans, an area of rice paddies, shrimp farms and a vast mangrove forest.
“The government estimates that the Rampal coal plant will require approximately a shipment of coal every day through the ecosystem’s winding, shallow rivers. Critics say this could increase chances of a catastrophic spill, a concern brought home in 2014 when an oil tanker spilled 75,000 gallons into the fragile ecosystem. For days, locals were left to fight the toxic spill with little more than pots, pans, spoons and sponges.
“We see no reason why this project would destroy the Sundarbans, as alleged,” said Ujjwal Bhattacharya, managing director of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPC), which is running the Rampal coal plant. The BIFPC is a joint company between India and Bangladesh’s national power companies.”
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
People from all walks of life must join the long march and compel the government to drop the plans of setting up the Rampal Power Plant.
Nur Jahan
Chittagong
