Calling for a nationwide movement to stall the disputed Rampal project and save the Sundarbans, Prof. Anu Muhammad, member secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, and Power and Port, has said that the battle against the project has to be won.
He said the government failed to provide valid reasons in support of the project. “All they have shown is stubbornness,” he said. Anu Muhammad made the observations at a meeting, organised by Biggan Andolon Mancha (Science Movement Platform) on the impact the coal-based Rampal project would have on the Sundarbans, at the National Press Club yesterday (Monday). "Those in the government and their supporters have lost their power of reasoning for money and self-interest.  To implement the project, the government and the company have united. They are blind to people’s interest. They are just looking after the interest of the company,” he also said.
Alleging that the Sundarbans has no importance to the government, Anu Mohammad said: “The government is engaged in a conspiracy to destroy the mangrove forest. But the government is unaware of the fact that the country will become unprotected if the Sunderbans is destroyed.” Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BaSad) general secretary Khalequzzaman said, "Boatmen in the project area are more aware of the destructive effects of the project than ministers and ruling party MPs.” Towhida Rashid, professor at the environment department of Dhaka University, environmental lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan, environmental specialist Abdul Matin, energy expert Rahmatullah and others also spoke on the occasion.