Rampal power station

The Rampal power station is a proposed 1320 megawatt coal-fired power station at Rampal in Khulna in Bangladesh. The plant would involve the government acquiring 2000 acres of farm land to install the plant under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Bangladesh`s Power Development Board (PDB) and India`s state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in August 2010; they have been designated to implement the project by 2016.

On January 29, 2012, the India Power Development Board (PDB) signed an agreement with NTPC to build the 1,320-megawatt Rampal plant. The PDB and the NTPC will implement the $1.5 billion project on a 50:50 equity basis. The NTPC will set up and operate the plant.

Political opposition
On March 1, 2011, a High Court bench asked the government why the construction of the plant should not be declared illegal. The senior BNP leader also claimed that acquiring 4,000 acres of land in the area beside the Pashur River, mostly arable, would be disastrous. High Court lawyer Manzill Murshid during the hearing that the government was planning to acquire 1,834 acres of land.

Citizen opposition
Environmental experts have expressed concerns that the proposed plant at Rampal in Bagerhat might destroy Sundarban, one of the world’s largest mangrove forests. Faridul Islam, chief coordinator of Save the Sundarbans, pointed out that the selected location of the project was only nine kilometres from Sundarban. About 2.5 million people depend on the Sundarban region, such as wood-cutters, fishermen, and honey hunters. An official said the Power Development Board would submit an environment impact assessment report to the Bangladesh environment department.

On July 9, 2011, the police foiled agitation at two places in Rampal upazila in the Bagerhat district demanding cancellation of the proposed plant near Sundarban. The police arrested two participants. Five organisations active in the country’s south-western region at a joint news conference at Khulna Press Club demanded immediate exemplary punishment of the policemen involved, saying the police engaged in attacks on the agitation.

On July 18, 2011, the BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir asked the government to shelve the proposed coal project at Rampal in Bagerhat, fearing that it might harm the Sundarbans. He also expressed solidarity with the locals who had been protesting the government move to set up the 1300MW plant at Satmari Katakhali of the upazila in collaboration with NPTC, which will use Indian coal that contains high sulphur.

In April 2013 environmentalists rejected an environment impact assessment report on the proposed plant, saying it did not take into account prior studies showing the project would have a large negative impact on the environment.

Contact details
Website" http://www.bpdb.gov.bd/

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