Dhaka, May 18 – Rights activist Sultana Kamal on Friday said the government and the people must realize the after-effect of the Rampal power plant project.
“All must realise what will happen after the operation of Rampal power plant project begins,” Sultana Kamal made the observation at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) in the capital.The press briefing was jointly arranged by National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) and Water Keepers Bangladesh.
The rights activist also expressed her surprise over the government’s silence on the issue and said: “It did not respond to the study reports submitted by the National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans.”
Mentioning the concern of the international organisations like the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO for the Sundarbans Sultana Kamal said the government even did not respond even their concern for the world heritage site.
“The government will have to implement the recommendation of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO for the greater interest of protecting the world largest mangrove Sundarbans,” she said.
She demanded immediate cancellation of all works of infrastructure near the Sundarbans.
She also said the international organisations like the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO asked Bangladesh government about the Sundarbans, a world heritage site, but the government did not respond to it.
The press conference was arranged following the outcome of a recent study report conducted by Environmental Science Department of Khulna University.
According to the study report that the banks of the Pashur river started facing erosion due to industrial activities ahead of the operation of Rampal power plant project.
Columnist Sayed Abul Maksud and other environmentalists were also present at the briefing.
The speakers of the briefing talked about a study report on Rampal issue which was conducted by Environmental Science Department of Khulna University.
Government has taken decision to build the construction of the proposed 1320-megawatt super thermal power plant, which is just 65km away from the world heritage site Sundarbans.
Following the government decision, the civil society organisations sent appeal letters to UNESCO and the presidents, prime ministers and several ministers of Bangladesh and India to immediately take necessary steps to halt the coal-fired power plant project in the Sundarbans and to increase investments in renewable solar and wind power.
The WHC and International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in October 2016 urged Bangladesh to relocate the power plant site, saying that it was posing a serious threat to the Sundarbans.
But the government on July 6 last year announced that the committee withdrew its objection to the construction of Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans.
Despite this step back, the Word Heritage Committee (WHC) gave a number of conditions to Bangladesh, setting an 18-month deadline to fulfill those, before it can initiate the construction.
The committee also asked Bangladesh to submit an update report of conservation measures of the Sundarbans and the implementation of all the conditions and measures by December 2018, during its 42nd session.
Hence, if the conditions given to help protect the Sundarbans remain unfulfilled or Bangladesh fails to submit the report within the deadline, the WHC will enlist the mangrove forest as a World Heritage Site in danger. – Staff Reporter
