‘Eight coal power plants may claim 30,000 lives in 30 years’

Some 30,000 people could die in air pollution in 30 years if the eight proposed coal-fired power plants in Matarbari and Maheshkhali in the Cox's Bazar are built, according to a study.

The information was revealed by a study conducted jointly by of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) and Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an international research organisation. The findings of the study were disseminated at a virtual press conference on Tuesday.

The conference was chaired by Rasheda K Chowdhury, former advisor to the caretaker government and vice-president of BAPA. General Secretary of BAPA Sharif Jamil moderated the event.  Lauri Myllyvirta, chief analyst at the CREA, discussed scientific issued of the study and the power plants impact among others.

Lauri Myllyvirta said that if all the eight proposed power plants at Maheshkhali and Matarbari were built, it would be the world's largest coal-fired power hub.

Besides, there was extreme negligence in assessing the impact of these power plants and the management system of the proposed projects are very weak, he added, saying that these power plants could cause long-term health risks and negative economic impact to the people of the Chittagong region.

The ability to control toxic emissions is also very inadequate at the power plants with example-- the JICA-funded Matarbari 1,200-megawatt (first phase) power plant has about 25 times higher toxic emissions than China, India or the European Union standard, the study said.

The study found that the eight proposed coal-fired power plants would emit toxic substances into the air during its 30-year life span which is feared to claim 30,000 lives.

Of them, 4,100 could die from chronic lung disease, 7,000 from heart disease, 2,900 including 200 children from pneumonia, 1,300 from lung cancer, 6,400 from stroke and 2,400 from nitrogen-dioxide poisoning, the study added.

Besides, the coal-fired plants could also put the Cox's Bazar’s well known for marine fish, dried fish and shrimp farming into threat. Furthermore, Cox's Bazar is the biggest tourist area of Bangladesh along with longest uninterrupted beach and 11 wildlife sanctuaries in the world, the study underlined.

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