The Consequences of Rampal Power Plant on Environment in Bangladesh

A thermal power plant that burns coal to produce electricity is called a coal power plant. It is a specific kind of fossil fuel power plant. Coal's chemical energy is thus gradually transformed into heat, mechanical, and electrical energy. Around 8,500 coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of over 2,000 gigawatts are present worldwide. They produce nearly a third of the power used in the globe. More than 125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge, which contain arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium, are produced annually by a typical 500-megawatt coal power plant. More than 75% of this waste is disposed of in unlined, unmonitored onsite landfills and surface impoundments, which contaminate drinking water sources and harm the nervous system and other important human organs. but are mostly responsible for many diseases and early deaths from air pollution. On January 29, 2012, the Bangladeshi government signed a joint venture deal with India's state-run electricity generation business to carry out its decision to build a 1320MW coal-fired power station near the mouth of the Sundarbans in Rampal Upazila of Bagerhat district alongside the Poshur River.

Only 33-35% of the heat in coal is used by a coal power station to create electricity; the remainder is discharged into the atmosphere and absorbed by the cooling water. Burning coal is a major contributor to air toxics, acid rain, and global warming. The Sundarbans will be impacted by the construction of this coal-fired power station because they are approximately 9 km downstream from the project site. To build the power plant, the government purchased 1,834 acres of agricultural land in Rampal Upazila. The planned power station would burn over 4.75 million tons of coal per year, producing roughly 0.71 million tons of ashes, as well as maybe 0.5 million tons of sludge and liquid waste. No power plant may be built within 12 km of the Sundarbans buffer zone, according to the Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) regulations. Any thermal power station cannot be built within 25 kilometers of any natural forest or animal habitat, according to the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India (2010).

The Sundarbans buffer zone is 4 km away from the planned project. First and foremost, it has an effect on the Sundarbans' plant and animal ecosystems as well as the land around the project site. Second, there are settlements, farms, and fisheries close to the facility. About 8000 people would lose their houses and means of support due to the Rampal facility. Thirdly, they increase marine transportation, unauthorized chemical discharges from naval vessels, noise and light pollution, etc., which may disrupt the nearby rivers' and canals' natural ecosystems. Fourteen million tons of carbon dioxide will be produced by the plant, which will cause the forest's triggers to be destroyed. The transportation of coal will impact the environment in three ways, according to the EIA assessment. First, the nearby sea, rivers, and shore will be severely contaminated by the discharge of coal, filth, gasoline, and other pollutants from the often sailing big and small ships. The release of coal wastes into the river water at Akram Point, where the transition from the huge ships to the little lighter boats will take place, will also contaminate the water. Third, the Pashur River's banks will be harmed by the extensive and frequent maritime traffic, which will also add to ship-related noise and light pollution that will harm the ecosystem and wildlife.

Socially speaking, the land provides the majority of the local population's means of subsistence. These families will be forced to relocate in search of work if the property is bought, as they would lose their sources of income. Additionally, persons who are directly and indirectly dependent on the property will lose their means of subsistence and experience unemployment as a result of the land purchase. The local population will become more impoverished as a result, which will have a severe impact on their social and personal life. However, unfair compensation, procedural difficulties in the compensation delivery process, unauthorized payments to obtain compensation, the respective authority's callous treatment of the affected people, and incidents like threats and physical abuse are inciting anti-project feelings in the project areas.

The projected Rampal facility is not feasible financially from an economic perspective. PDB will bear 15% of the costs, the Indian NTPC will bear 15%, and bank loans will fund the remaining costs. The PDB will buy all of the produced power, and when PDB has bought it, the profit will be distributed evenly between the PDB and NTPC. The deal already stipulates that coal must be acquired for at least Tk. 8.85, which can be paid for using 4 or 3.8 BDT. Only those with the necessary technical training are eligible for employment opportunities in coal-fired power plants. Because of this, the power plants won't be able to hire a sizable number of jobless individuals who lost their jobs as a result of land acquisition.

As a result, I can conclude from the aforementioned problems that the Rampal power plant does not preserve and conserve public health, the ecology, or other environmental factors while also being economical and ecologically benign. In addition to increasing global warming, it causes poverty, and losses of fresh water, air, land, and jobs. We must actively seek newer, more reliable energy sources to maintain the nation's steady, sustainable growth. But the cost in terms of the Sundarbans is too great, both economically and environmentally. Renewable energy based on the sun or wind should be prioritized.

Mohammad Al-Amin is an undergraduate student at the Department of Public Administration, Comilla University, and a member of the Social Science Research Group (SSRG), & Comilla University Research Society (CoURS)- Bangladesh.