Why power plants near the Sundarbans?

Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd. (BIFPCL), a joint venture of PDB and NTPC of India, is developing the 1320MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project at Rampal which will run on imported coal. Besides, local firm Orion Group is building a 566MW power plant in Rampal area. It is needless to say that for healthy economic development, it is a must to produce sufficient power. But establishing such projects near the largest mangrove forest of the world is unacceptable. These power plants can be easily built elsewhere in the country. Sundarbans saved the lives of people living in the coastal areas several times when cyclones hit Bangladesh. Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009 made us realise how important the Sundarbans is for us. We would like to request the authorities concerned to stop the projects that will endanger the Sundarbans and the livelihoods of millions of people.

Md. Sayedur Rahman

Jatrabari, Dhaka