4-day march towards Sundarbans kicks off

The National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas, Natural Resource and Power-Port yesterday started its 4-day mass long march from the capital towards the Sundarbans in protest against the government’s move to set up a 1320-MW coal-fired power plant at Rampal near the mangrove forest, reports UNB.
Thousands of activists of different left-leaning parties, mainly of Workers Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), BSD, and Ganosanghati Andolon joined the long march with a convoy of buses.
Organisers said the long march will reach Faridpur on Thursday afternoon while Khulna on Friday and finally the Sundarbans on March 13.
“The Rampal project is a project of betrayal...it’s a destructive project. We’ll resist implementation of the project through a united movement,” said member secretary of the National Committee Anu Mohammad while addressing a rally prior to launching the long march in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
He alleged that the government is implementing the Rampal power project to serve the interest of Indian profit-monger businessmen.
Anu Mohammad said the government is implementing the Rampal power project ignoring all the opinions of international experts who said this scheme will simply destroy the Sundarbans.
National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), one of the India’s largest power utility, wants to build the power project by convincing the Bangladesh government although the company failed to build such a harmful project in India due to strong protests from Indians, Anu Mohammad added.
“The Sundarbans has been serving as a protective fence for nature as well as the habitation of the whole southern region of the country.  So, we cannot allow any move to destroy this world heritage,” he said.
He said the objective of the long march programme is to create mass awareness against the government’s move and save the Sundarbans through building a united movement.
“More than one million people’s livelihood depends on the Sundarbans while the forest is protecting more than 40 million people from natural disasters,” said Prof Anu Mohammad.
He went on saying, “We cannot allow any government move to implement any project that will finally destroy the lives of people and their livelihoods.”
The protesters also demanded enactment of a law in order to prevent the export of mineral resources, full implementation of Fulbari Agreement and ban on lifting coal in open method.

4-day march towards Sundarbans kicks off

The National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas, Natural Resource and Power-Port yesterday started its 4-day mass long march from the capital towards the Sundarbans in protest against the governments move to set up a 1320-MW coal-fired power plant at Rampal near the mangrove forest, reports UNB. Thousands of activists of different left-leaning parties, mainly of Workers Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), BSD, and Ganosanghati Andolon joined the long march with a convoy of buses. Organisers said the long march will reach Faridpur on Thursday afternoon while Khulna on Friday and finally the Sundarbans on March 13. The Rampal project is a project of betrayal...its a destructive project. Well resist implementation of the project through a united movement, said member secretary of the National Committee Anu Mohammad while addressing a rally prior to launching the long march in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital. He alleged that the government is implementing the Rampal power project to serve the interest of Indian profit-monger businessmen. Anu Mohammad said the government is implementing the Rampal power project ignoring all the opinions of international experts who said this scheme will simply destroy the Sundarbans. National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), one of the Indias largest power utility, wants to build the power project by convincing the Bangladesh government although the company failed to build such a harmful project in India due to strong protests from Indians, Anu Mohammad added. The Sundarbans has been serving as a protective fence for nature as well as the habitation of the whole southern region of the country. So, we cannot allow any move to destroy this world heritage, he said. He said the objective of the long march programme is to create mass awareness against the governments move and save the Sundarbans through building a united movement. More than one million peoples livelihood depends on the Sundarbans while the forest is protecting more than 40 million people from natural disasters, said Prof Anu Mohammad. He went on saying, We cannot allow any government move to implement any project that will finally destroy the lives of people and their livelihoods. The protesters also demanded enactment of a law in order to prevent the export of mineral resources, full implementation of Fulbari Agreement and ban on lifting coal in open method.