Scrap Rampal power plant

UNESCO urges govt

The United Nations has urged the Bangladesh government to halt construction of Rampal coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans, warning of a serious threat to the delicate ecosystem of the world’s largest mangrove forest, reports AFP.
The UN’s culture and science agency UNESCO said there was a high chance pollution from the plant would “irreversibly damage” the Sundarbans, which straddles the border of India and Bangladesh and is home to endangered Bengal tigers and rare dolphins.
It also provides a barrier against storm surges and cyclones that have killed thousands of people in impoverished coastal villages and islands in recent years, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The planned 1,320 megawatt Rampal plant, a joint project by India and Bangladesh, would be powered each year by nearly five million tons of coal transported by boat along the ecosystem’s fragile waterways.
Scheduled to open in 2018, the plant would also discharge nearly 125,000 cubic metres a day of chemically-tainted water used to cool generators, according to design specifications. In a report published late Tuesday, UNESCO said the plant’s construction would result in a substantial increase in shipping and dredging in the area.
It recommended that the plant be relocated “to a more suitable location, where it would not impact negatively on the Sundarbans”.

Scrap Rampal power plant

UNESCO urges govt

The United Nations has urged the Bangladesh government to halt construction of Rampal coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans, warning of a serious threat to the delicate ecosystem of the worlds largest mangrove forest, reports AFP. The UNs culture and science agency UNESCO said there was a high chance pollution from the plant would irreversibly damage the Sundarbans, which straddles the border of India and Bangladesh and is home to endangered Bengal tigers and rare dolphins. It also provides a barrier against storm surges and cyclones that have killed thousands of people in impoverished coastal villages and islands in recent years, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The planned 1,320 megawatt Rampal plant, a joint project by India and Bangladesh, would be powered each year by nearly five million tons of coal transported by boat along the ecosystems fragile waterways. Scheduled to open in 2018, the plant would also discharge nearly 125,000 cubic metres a day of chemically-tainted water used to cool generators, according to design specifications. In a report published late Tuesday, UNESCO said the plants construction would result in a substantial increase in shipping and dredging in the area. It recommended that the plant be relocated to a more suitable location, where it would not impact negatively on the Sundarbans.