HC clears way for power plant near Sundarbans
The High Court yesterday ordered that there is no bar to signing an agreement with India to set up the proposed coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans.
The court passed the order following a prayer moved by the attorney general during the hearing of its previous rule against the government's decision for setting up the power plant in Rampal upazila of Bagerhat.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday prayed to the HC to pass an order so the agreement can be signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka next month.
Following a writ petition, the HC on March 1 issued the rule asking the government to explain why its decision for setting up the power plant should not be declared illegal. It also asked the government to maintain status quo on the process of setting up the power plant.
Centre for Human Rights Movement, a rights organisation, on February 28 filed the petition against construction of the power plant.
Petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told the bench that the environment of the Sundarbans, which is competing in a contest to become one of the seven natural wonders in the world, will be damaged if the power plant is built in that area.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore said the court will hold the next hearing on the rule in October.
Meanwhile, some rights organisations held a rally yesterday in front of the Jatiya Press Club, protesting the proposed power plant, says a press release.
They said such plant will not only pose a threat to the flora and fauna of the Sundarbans but also cause extinction of some animals and plants. And the chemical discharge from the plant will cause pollution of the Pashur river and its branches.
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