Rampal power plant: Environmental clearance not yet given

The department of environment is yet to give the environmental clearance certificate for setting up the proposed coal-fired power plant at Rampal in Bagerhat, environment and forests minister Anwar Hossain Manju told the parliament on Thursday.
The minister made the statement in contradiction to the statements of environment ministry secretary Kamal Uddin Ahmed and top officials of DoE, amid demands by different quarters to scrap the power plant project to save the Sunderbans.
Replying to a starred question from Jatiya Party lawmaker (Kurigram-3) AKM Mayeedul Islam, the minister also said that DoE had approved Environmental Impact Assessment report on the project after imposing some conditions, but the department is yet to give any environmental clearance for the project.
In a meeting on March 28, the environment ministry secretary and top DoE of
ficials informed the visiting UNESCO Reactive Monitoring Mission team that the DoE had issued the environmental clearance certificate for the coal-fired Rampal power plant on the basis of the EIA report.
The UNESCO delegation team, during its Bangladesh visit in late March, also visited the Sunderbans to assess the possible impact of the proposed coal-based Rampal power plant and vessels plying through the mangrove forest. They also visited the site of the coal-fired Rampal power plant project.
Prior to the UNESCO delegation team’s visit, National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports held its four day Dhaka-Rampal long march starting on March 10 to press its demands including scraping the coal-based Rampal and Orion thermal power plants at Rampal in Bagerhat.
In his statement in the parliament, Manju, however, defended setting up the proposed power plant saying it would not affect the Sundarbans and would rather create employment and reduce the locals’ dependence on the world’s largest mangrove forest.
He said the coal-fired power plant would not have any adverse environmental impact if the mitigation measures suggested in the EIA report of the proposed power project are properly followed while setting up the plant.
The Sunderbans is situated about 14 kilometres from the proposed 1,320-megawatt coal-based Rampal power plant site. The project is a joint venture of Bangladesh Power Development Board and the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited of India under the title of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company.
According to the EIA report, the Rampal Power Plant will produce 7.5 lakh tonnes of fly ash and 2 lakh tonnes of bottom ash per year. About 15 percent of the ash will be generated as a result of burning coal.
Environment experts warn that the Rampal Power Plant project will bring more harm to the country than good, destroying the World Heritage site, since the climate, topography, land use pattern, wetlands, floral and faunal diversity and quality of air and water in the Sunderbans will be affected by the power plant.
The greens, as well as the Sunderban Rakhkha Jatiya Committee, has been continuously demanding that the project is scrapped.
The Committee has also been demanding a UN-led committee, comprising of scientists, to conduct a new Environment Impact Assessment before which the project remains suspended.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net