144 CSOs demand cancellation of Orion's 635 MW coal-fired power plant at Matarbari
Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Some 144 civil society organisations (CSOs) across the country have jointly submitted letters Monday to the advisers of the ministries of Finance, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), and the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) demanding the cancellation of the proposed 635 MW coal-fired power plant to be installed by Orion Group in Matarbari, Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar.
They submitted the letters considering the risks to the environment, climate, public health, and economy.
These CSOs, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED), have also urged the cancellation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and the withdrawal of allocated loans and land leases for Orion’s coal-fired power plant project.
If the project is implemented, it will emit approximately 461,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually along with large quantities of other harmful gases, fly ash, and bottom ash, posing serious threats to public health, biodiversity, and the marine ecosystem.
Additionally, the project will require coal imports worth around Tk 15.87 billion annually and incur BDT 30.59 billion in capacity charges, putting significant pressure on the national economy and foreign currency reserves, the letters stated.
Despite repeated implementation failures, project deadlines have continuously been extended, violating contractual terms, undermining national interests, and contradicting renewable energy goals, the letter to the MPEMR bemoaned.
They also alleged flaws and data suppression in the EIA report and called for its immediate cancellation.
The letter to CPGCBL specifically demands annulment of a controversial lease of 225 acres of land that was originally intended for a renewable energy project.
This letter campaign was supported by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), university faculty from Dhaka University, coastal groups, and organisations representing farmers, women, workers, and youth, totalling 144 institutions.
If this project is not cancelled, it will become a major obstacle to achieving the target of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050.
Billions of Tk will be wasted on coal imports. Let Matarbari’s biodiversity be freed from this deadly trap of fossil fuels, they demanded.
Separately, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) administrator Mohammad Azaz emphasises the importance of collecting temperature data like air pollution in Dhaka.
Mr Azaz made the call at the inaugural event of “Baseline Study on the Role of Vegetation in Reducing Temperature and Air Pollution: A Study in Informal Settlements of Dhaka North City Corporation”.
The DNCC, Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), Community Town Federation (CTF), and World Vision Bangladesh organised the event at the DNCC auditorium at Nagar Bhaban in Gulshan-2.
Dr Mohammad Jasim Uddin, Professor of Botany at the University of Dhaka; Professor Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, Chairman of CAPS and Engr Md Nasir Ahmmed Patoary, Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Science, Stamford University Bangladesh, were present at the event.