Bid to justify Rampal Power Plant
The environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the 1,320-MW coal-fired Rampal power plant, prepared by the government, has treated the Sundarbans as a residential area instead of as an ecologically critical and sensitive area in an attempt to justify the project, sources said. The EIA report has used incorrect emission standards and also under-estimated various kinds of adverse impact by the project, they added.
The EIA report of the Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Service (CEGIS) of the water resources ministry on the Rampal power plant has described the Sundarbans as a “residential and rural area” instead of being an “ecologically critical area”.
Allegations have been levelled that in order to implement the Bangladesh-India Friendship power plant project, the CEGIS made this change just to prove that the emission standards of the power project are below those for the ecologically sensitive areas and are safer and quite below the danger level, as described in the Environmental Conservation Rule 1997 (ECR). According to the Power Division, the CEGIS measures all components of an EIA, especially climate, topography, land use pattern, air and water quality, wetlands, floral and faunal diversity and location of captive fisheries.
“The ECR allows concentration of 16-51 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur in the air (per cubic metre), but the emission standards set for an ecologically sensitive area is 30 micrograms per cubic metre, both for SO2 and NO2. This is simply cheating. The government has done an unethical job,” economist and political activist Prof. Anu Muhammad told The Independent.
“It defies logic to treat the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, a Ramsar site and Unesco World Heritage Site, as a residential area instead of as an ecologically critical and sensitive area,” the Jahangirnagar University professor added.
According to the EIA, a total of 59 voyages will be required each year to transport the annual requirement of 4.72 million tons of coal by vessels of 80,000 DWT from the source to Akram Point anchorage. Five lighter vessels of 10,000 DWT can ship the total cargo of the mother vessel by making five voyages in four days. This means larger vessels will ply a distance of 30 km of the Passur river through the Sundarbans from Hiron Point to Akram Point for 59 days a year. Lighter vessels will ply a distance of 67 km of the Passur river through the Sundarbans from Akram Point to Mongla Port for 236 days a year. Naturally, the environment of the Sundarbans would be badly affected.
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, widely known as Ramsar Convention, has asked the government for detailed information on its plans, saying that it believes the biodiversity of the Sundarbans will face tremendous challenges once the plant goes into operation. It has expressed its concern over the project. The 1971 Ramsar Convention is an inter-governmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands” and their resources.
The authorities have already evicted 2,500 families from the 1,830 acres of land acquired for the plant and have begun filling up 250 acres of land. The proposed project, covering an area of over 1,834 acres of land, is situated 14 km north of the Sundarbans.
Since coal-based power plants usually cause severe environmental pollution, no country allows these to be set up even within 20-25 km of either forests or agricultural lands or residential areas. Yet the Rampal power plant is to be built within 14 km (nine miles) of the Sundarbans.
“The government is very cautious about the project,” Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the energy adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told The Independent, but did not elaborate.
“The EIA report has tried to justify the Rampal coal-based power plant near the Sundarbans by using wrong emission standards and by under-estimating the various kinds of adverse impact by the project. We can say the EIA is enough to immediately cancel the project,” Prof. Anu Muhammad said.
A research study carried out by Dr Abdullah Harun Chowdhury, a professor of environmental science at Khulna University, titled ‘Environmental Impact of Coal-based Power Plant of Rampal on the Sundarbans and Surrounding Areas’, has come out strongly against the project. Dr Chowdhury said if the power plant is established, the ecosystem, environment and wildlife of the Sundarbans would be severely affected and it would be impossible to restore the natural state of the forest. He said the coal-based power plant will also damage the surface water and croplands of the surrounding areas and affect the livelihoods of local people.
The research findings show that climate, topography, land use patterns, air and water quality, wetlands, floral and faunal diversity and captive fisheries will be permanently affected if the proposed power plant is established. The study adds that greater water-logging, air pollution, health hazards and destruction of croplands will occur.
The EIA report also conceded that such risks exist: “The navigation route for approaching the Mongla Port, to be used for coal transportation, is also important for the critically endangered mammalian species, freshwater dolphins, Irrawaddy dolphins and saltwater crocodiles, and an important aquatic bird, the Masked Finfoot.”
-With The Independent input
