RAMPAL POWER PLANT DEAL: Campaigners term it suicidal

Politicians, academicians, rights groups and civil society members on Wednesday condemned the deal to set up a coal-based thermal power plant at Rampal in Bagerhat which they said would pose a serious threat to the Sunderbans.
At a press conference, organised by National Committee to Save Sunderbans, at National Press Club, speakers said the decision of setting up the power plant near the wildlife sanctuary and the lone habitat of Bengal tigers was ‘suicidal’.
They also observed that the day would be marked as ‘black day’ in the history of Bangladesh, said a press release.
On Tuesday, a Bangladeshi-India joint venture company signed an agreement with India’s state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, paving the way for the construction of the much-debated Rampal coal power plant.
Coal-fired plants emit huge carbon dioxide and produce ashes, which will lead to environment pollution, they said, warning that wastes from the coal-based plant will also contaminate the nearby water bodies, thus damaging the ecosystem.
Despite these facts, the government was very keen on setting up the plant in Rampal, which raised many questions, they added.
They also demanded scraping of the treaty and urged the government to refrain from implementing the project to save the Sunderbans.
Meanwhile, in a joint statement, Communist Party of Bangladesh and Socialist Party of Bangladesh condemned the deal saying that it was against people’s will.
They threatened to wage tougher movement if government would not scrap the ‘anti-people’ deal immediately.
Condemning the deal, Ganasanhati Andolan and Jatiya Mukti Council in separate statements said that such treaty was only possible under an ‘irresponsible, subservient and autocratic ruling system’.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net