"My soil, my mother will not turn into a desert!” “We do not want electricity destroying the Sundarbans!” These are only two of many more emotional slogans chanted by the participants of a long march protesting against the proposed installation of a power plant with Indian assistance. A 400km march en route to Rampal—a small town near the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest on the planet—from the capital city of Dhaka spearheaded by the left-leaning Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral, Mineral Resources, Power, and Ports ended just recently. Protesters participating in the long march vow to stop the building of a massive 1320 megawatt coal-based power plant that finds its home just 14 km away from the Sundarbans. They have also issued an ultimatum to the government to cancel the project by October 11th, as Professor Anu Mohammad, the member secretary of the Committee, recited from the Sundarbans Announcement. The speakers say that failure to comply with this will trigger fresh protests.
The whole ecosystem surrounding the forest would be disturbed and hence the integrity of the Sundarbans would be severely affected, opponents of this project say. However, governing authorities seem to be unmoved by such environmentalist outcries. Followed by the agreement made in Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s state visit to Delhi in 2010, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the Indian state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) signed a deal in January 2012, according to which the 1320 megawatt capacity coal-fired plant would be the largest power plant in Bangladesh and would be named the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Project. This mega project requires 1834 acres of land in the vicinity of the Sundarbans. The estimated capital cost is US$1.5 billion—70 percent of that is planned to amass by a costly “buyer’s credit” scheme, while the rest is planned to be equally borne by the Joint Venture Partners. Opponents therefore claim that the Indian NTPC will have 50 percent ownership despite having invested only 15 percent of the total cost.
Such a power plant somewhat lessens the endless electricity demand for energy-hungry Bangladesh, whose leaders envision an ambitious plan to increase its power generation capacity to 24,000 megawatts by 2021 and 40,000 megawatts by 2030. Bangladesh also seeks to decrease its reliance on gas and oil as fuels in power production. Bangladeshi Energy Secretary Monowar Islam argued in a press briefing on September 25th that coal accounted for 41 percent of global power production, whereas its share in Bangladesh’s production is only .03 percent. Which is why, to his thinking, there is no alternative to coal to achieve this extraordinary objective.
In the same meeting the energy adviser told Prime Minister Tawfiq-E-Elahi that this plant is set to be built 14 km away from the Sundarbans, as well as 72 km away from the world heritage site, but “will not have any negative impact on the environment”.
“It is a sheer lie”, said Professor Anu Mohammad in a meeting in the divisional city of Khulna.
Mr. Elahi also clarified why Rampal has been chosen: population density, coal transportation facilities, availability of land, and the rehabilitation of the local people, all work as catalysts to Rampal's economy. He later rules out some of the environment activists’ major concerns, saying that the chimneys of the plant that belch emissions away from the Sundarban would be 275 meters high. Besides, premium quality coal would be imported to help produce the minimum amount of CO2. He also denies the claims that the river channels will be polluted by coal transport, claiming, “Only one ship will ferry the coal daily,” which “will be a completely covered ship, and coal will be unloaded with the help of covered conveyer belts,” claiming there were no reasons for concern. “There is no pollution concern here,” he concludes.
Nevertheless, the looming concerns among environmentalists and civil society in Bangladesh cannot be assuaged. They fear not only CO2 but also that the ash spewed off by the plant would cover the nearby vegetation and rivers, and hence destroy the balance of the already fragile ecosystem there. “There are many options to generate power but there is no alternative to the Sundarbans”, says Professor Mohammad, who, in an op-ed, further depicts the Bangladesh-India consortium a project of mass destruction.
According to U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, a typical 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant burns 1.4 million tons of coal annually, whereas plants equipped with emissions controls, including flue gas desulfurization (smokestack scrubbers), emit 7000 tons of SO2 and 3.5 million tons of CO2 per year. It also requires a half billion gallons of cooling water and have been shown to harm wildlife. The Sundarbans, a natural bio-shield which has long protected Bangladesh against some of the most extreme cyclones and other calamities, is indispensable in maintaining the steady growth of Bangladesh. In natural disasters its usefulness appears more vividly than usual. Had the Sundarbans had not absorbed the impact of the deady Cyclone Sidr to an extent back in 2007, southwestern Bangladesh would have been a death valley. Furthermore, a number of rare species reside in this unique maze of mangrove trees.
The iconic royal bengal tiger demands a peaceful habitat, which will definitely not be available during the pre- and post- construction phase of this massive power plant. No evaluative study on the feasibility or necessity of this project is further needed to understand the impending losses. And the masses in Bangladesh will burst into protests, even if their closest neighbor is stretching its helping hand this time.
Arafat Kabir is an observer of national and global politics, foreign policy, and diplomacy. A native from Bangladesh, Arafat's works has been featured in various multilingual national and international journals.
Photo: lepetitNicolas (cc).
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Bangladesh: Indian Cooperation Sparks Public Discord
October 7, 2013
"My soil, my mother will not turn into a desert!” “We do not want electricity destroying the Sundarbans!” These are only two of many more emotional slogans chanted by the participants of a long march protesting against the proposed installation of a power plant with Indian assistance. A 400km march en route to Rampal—a small town near the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest on the planet—from the capital city of Dhaka spearheaded by the left-leaning Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral, Mineral Resources, Power, and Ports ended just recently. Protesters participating in the long march vow to stop the building of a massive 1320 megawatt coal-based power plant that finds its home just 14 km away from the Sundarbans. They have also issued an ultimatum to the government to cancel the project by October 11th, as Professor Anu Mohammad, the member secretary of the Committee, recited from the Sundarbans Announcement. The speakers say that failure to comply with this will trigger fresh protests.
The whole ecosystem surrounding the forest would be disturbed and hence the integrity of the Sundarbans would be severely affected, opponents of this project say. However, governing authorities seem to be unmoved by such environmentalist outcries. Followed by the agreement made in Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s state visit to Delhi in 2010, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the Indian state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) signed a deal in January 2012, according to which the 1320 megawatt capacity coal-fired plant would be the largest power plant in Bangladesh and would be named the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Project. This mega project requires 1834 acres of land in the vicinity of the Sundarbans. The estimated capital cost is US$1.5 billion—70 percent of that is planned to amass by a costly “buyer’s credit” scheme, while the rest is planned to be equally borne by the Joint Venture Partners. Opponents therefore claim that the Indian NTPC will have 50 percent ownership despite having invested only 15 percent of the total cost.
Such a power plant somewhat lessens the endless electricity demand for energy-hungry Bangladesh, whose leaders envision an ambitious plan to increase its power generation capacity to 24,000 megawatts by 2021 and 40,000 megawatts by 2030. Bangladesh also seeks to decrease its reliance on gas and oil as fuels in power production. Bangladeshi Energy Secretary Monowar Islam argued in a press briefing on September 25th that coal accounted for 41 percent of global power production, whereas its share in Bangladesh’s production is only .03 percent. Which is why, to his thinking, there is no alternative to coal to achieve this extraordinary objective.
In the same meeting the energy adviser told Prime Minister Tawfiq-E-Elahi that this plant is set to be built 14 km away from the Sundarbans, as well as 72 km away from the world heritage site, but “will not have any negative impact on the environment”.
“It is a sheer lie”, said Professor Anu Mohammad in a meeting in the divisional city of Khulna.
Mr. Elahi also clarified why Rampal has been chosen: population density, coal transportation facilities, availability of land, and the rehabilitation of the local people, all work as catalysts to Rampal's economy. He later rules out some of the environment activists’ major concerns, saying that the chimneys of the plant that belch emissions away from the Sundarban would be 275 meters high. Besides, premium quality coal would be imported to help produce the minimum amount of CO2. He also denies the claims that the river channels will be polluted by coal transport, claiming, “Only one ship will ferry the coal daily,” which “will be a completely covered ship, and coal will be unloaded with the help of covered conveyer belts,” claiming there were no reasons for concern. “There is no pollution concern here,” he concludes.
Nevertheless, the looming concerns among environmentalists and civil society in Bangladesh cannot be assuaged. They fear not only CO2 but also that the ash spewed off by the plant would cover the nearby vegetation and rivers, and hence destroy the balance of the already fragile ecosystem there. “There are many options to generate power but there is no alternative to the Sundarbans”, says Professor Mohammad, who, in an op-ed, further depicts the Bangladesh-India consortium a project of mass destruction.
According to U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, a typical 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant burns 1.4 million tons of coal annually, whereas plants equipped with emissions controls, including flue gas desulfurization (smokestack scrubbers), emit 7000 tons of SO2 and 3.5 million tons of CO2 per year. It also requires a half billion gallons of cooling water and have been shown to harm wildlife. The Sundarbans, a natural bio-shield which has long protected Bangladesh against some of the most extreme cyclones and other calamities, is indispensable in maintaining the steady growth of Bangladesh. In natural disasters its usefulness appears more vividly than usual. Had the Sundarbans had not absorbed the impact of the deady Cyclone Sidr to an extent back in 2007, southwestern Bangladesh would have been a death valley. Furthermore, a number of rare species reside in this unique maze of mangrove trees.
The iconic royal bengal tiger demands a peaceful habitat, which will definitely not be available during the pre- and post- construction phase of this massive power plant. No evaluative study on the feasibility or necessity of this project is further needed to understand the impending losses. And the masses in Bangladesh will burst into protests, even if their closest neighbor is stretching its helping hand this time.
Arafat Kabir is an observer of national and global politics, foreign policy, and diplomacy. A native from Bangladesh, Arafat's works has been featured in various multilingual national and international journals.
Photo: lepetitNicolas (cc).
