Rampal power plant: Protesters will write to Modi to scrap project

Protesters said Thursday that said they will write to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urge him to take steps to scrap the Rampal power plant in Bangladesh near the world's largest mangrove forest - the Sundarbans.

National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, the major body that is campaigning against the plant, will hand the letter to Indian high commissioner on October 18, reports the Daily Star.

Member secretary of the body, Anu Muhammad, made the announcement at a press briefing in Dhaka adding that on the day of the handover, the committee will bring out a procession at Jatiya Press Club.

Despite widespread criticism and protest from green activists, the Bangladesh Government is going ahead with the construction of the 1,320-megawatt Rampal power plant and India's state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) has received the contract to build it.

However, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has time and again stated that the government would adopt ways to avoid any environmental hazards due to the plant saying that it will use high-end technology at the plant to mitigate the hazards and that the process would be monitored by the regulator, Department of Environment.