Imagine the world’s largest mangrove forest gasping for air. The
once-green landscape is turning a dull gray, yellow and brown. In
certain places where the rivers intertwined with the forest have turned
black. The air is as harsh as the fading wilderness. One can hardly
breathe due to the heat; animals and small creatures are dying. Trees
and rivers are heavy with the smell of the dead. Towering concrete
chimneys spew out clouds of toxic gas, fly ash and heat into the air
amidst the dying forest.
These are the possible consequences that the Sundarbans may face as a result of the ambitious construction of a thermal power plant in Rampal. Massive industrialisation from Rampal to Mongla will add to the catastrophe. Locals fear an environmental backlash as these two sites are located 14-kilometre northwest of the Sundarbans and four kilometres from the declared Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).Vijay Shanker Tamrakar, Managing Director of Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company, however, tells the Star that this is the best location in the country for a coal based thermal power plant. “Since it is closer to the Sundarbans we thought about the mitigation process very closely. We are following every recommendation of the Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) and using modern technology to minimize the ill effects. But it is also true that you cannot fulfil everything in a site.”
Interestingly though, the state’s initiative to set up a power plant and the low price of land has drawn many investors in the adjacent areas. At least 30 different business groups have acquired lands over the last four years to set up industries in Burirdanga, a neighbouring union of Rampal. Pillars and signboards of power plants, shipyards, pharmaceutical companies, LP Gas and other commercial enterprises have already been put up, demarcating land ownership across the river bank.
After the land acquiring began, locals and the environmentalists started to protest against the proposed power plant. The fear is that the exclusive flora and fauna and the Bengal Tiger may disappear in the process of massive industrialisation. The trees, many of which have already been cut, had worked as an environmental shield during Cyclone Sidr for the people living in the country’s south-western region. Without them these areas will become even more vulnerable to natural disasters.
These are the possible consequences that the Sundarbans may face as a result of the ambitious construction of a thermal power plant in Rampal. Massive industrialisation from Rampal to Mongla will add to the catastrophe. Locals fear an environmental backlash as these two sites are located 14-kilometre northwest of the Sundarbans and four kilometres from the declared Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).Vijay Shanker Tamrakar, Managing Director of Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company, however, tells the Star that this is the best location in the country for a coal based thermal power plant. “Since it is closer to the Sundarbans we thought about the mitigation process very closely. We are following every recommendation of the Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) and using modern technology to minimize the ill effects. But it is also true that you cannot fulfil everything in a site.”
Interestingly though, the state’s initiative to set up a power plant and the low price of land has drawn many investors in the adjacent areas. At least 30 different business groups have acquired lands over the last four years to set up industries in Burirdanga, a neighbouring union of Rampal. Pillars and signboards of power plants, shipyards, pharmaceutical companies, LP Gas and other commercial enterprises have already been put up, demarcating land ownership across the river bank.
After the land acquiring began, locals and the environmentalists started to protest against the proposed power plant. The fear is that the exclusive flora and fauna and the Bengal Tiger may disappear in the process of massive industrialisation. The trees, many of which have already been cut, had worked as an environmental shield during Cyclone Sidr for the people living in the country’s south-western region. Without them these areas will become even more vulnerable to natural disasters.
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