Green activists at a roundtable on Saturday demanded that the construction of the coal-based power plant at Rampal be cancelled and the project shifted to a safer place to save the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. They also demanded that the project assessment report be evaluated through discussions with representatives of the government, non-governmental organisations, professional bodies as well as local and foreign scientists.
The demands were raised at the roundtable, organised by the National Committee to Protect Sundarbans (NCPS), at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the city.
Stamford University vice-chancellor Prof. M Feroze Ahmed, NCPS member secretary Dr Abdul Matin, National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports member secretary Anu Muhammad, Prof. Abul Bashar of Dhaka University, Prof. Dr Abdullah Harun Chowdhury of Khulna University, Engineer M Enamul Haque and others also spoke on the occasion.
Anu Muhammad pointed out that the Sundarbans is a world heritage site that is also listed as a Ramsar site, which ensure the protection of the forest. “This forest is a huge source of national resources. Several crores of people are directly dependent on the forest for their livelihoods. It also saves the country from natural calamities. This mangrove forest would be a safeguard for Bangladesh against climate change,” he added. Describing the government’s decision to set up the plant, he said, “It is really sad that the government is going to set up the power plant, ignoring the demands, emotions, desires and requests of crores of people.”
Dr Abdul Matin said there are different alternatives to producing electricity from coal, but such projects should not be on the fringes of the Sundarbans, which would result in the destruction of biodiversity. “We have only one Sundarbans. There is no alternative to it. Even we cannot build a forest like the Sundarbans. So such a project should be stopped immediately to save the forest,” he added.
-With The Independent input
