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Rampal: A non-feasible power plant

By M S Siddiqui:

24 July 2016

The mangrove forest Sundarbans constitutes a National Conservation Area and has been designated as a Ramsar
Convention Site and Biosphere area. The Sundarbans were designated as a World Heritage Site in 1997. Roughly twothirds of the Sundarbans is located within Bangladesh and consists of three wildlife sanctuaries. It contains two
UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites. Approximately one-third of the Sundarbans lies in India contains a third
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This vast mangrove forest provides breeding grounds for fish and shrimp and is a rich source of food and sustainable
livelihoods for the many surrounding communities. It has been estimated that more than one million people depend
on the Sundarbans for their livelihood, many of whom work seasonally as fishermen and gather non-timber forest
products that include nipa palm, honey, leaves and grass. The forest is the single largest source of forest produce in
Bangladesh.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), It's rich wetland ecosystem provides
habitat for an extraordinary range of biodiversity with 334 plant species and 693 species of wildlife including at least
58 rare and threatened species, the last remaining population of the Bengal tiger, several types of turtles, fishing cats,
and the Ganges and Irrawady river dolphins, the only two remaining river dolphin species in Asia and both listed as
globally endangered.
Rampal power plant in process of setting up with 14 km of Sunderabans, is a 50:50 ownership joint venture between

Bangladesh and India. The financing is divided as follows: 70% from loans, 15% from Bangladesh, and 15% from
India. However, Bangladesh will have to pay back the loan and its interests, meaning that Bangladesh has 85%
financial liability of the plant, while only 50% ownership. In case of halt of power production for any reason,
Bangladesh will have to bear the entire loss.
The Rampal project's own EIA identified four "important dolphin areas" along this route, one of which, the report
says, is the anchorage area at Akram point. The Passur river is a breeding ground for the threatened Irrawaddy
dolphin. This habitat and the species dependent on it, he said, are likely to be affected by the dredging of the river.
The plant will use water from Passur river and every liter of water collected from the Passur river contained 500 to
1,200 eggs of fish and other organisms. He pointed out that the government report claims that the power plant will
use 9,150 cubic meters - or 9.1 million liters - of water per hour to transform coal into electricity. In other words,
based on the results of this study, the water consumption of the plant alone could result in the destruction of 4.5
billion to 11 billion eggs per hour of operation. The plant will discharge contaminated hot water into the river after
use. It is scientifically established that the discharged water from a coal power plant is chemically hazardous and
further polluted the river water to harm other species.
According to a 2013 study of the disposal of coal ash at thermal power plants in India concluded that the ash had
contaminated soil, vegetation, and ground water with mercury, posing risks to soil and aquatic ecosystem, fish,
wildlife, and humans. If such an incident were to occur in the Sundarbans, it would pose significant health risks to
wildlife, from a decrease in reproductive rates to death, especially to the aquatic and semi-aquatic organisms
abundant throughout its ecosystem. The environment issue of Rampal project is a concern is now a global concern.
The burning of the coal at the Rampal plant alone would generate 940,000 tons of toxic residue (called coal ash) each
year. Coal ash contains heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and selenium. There have
been many situations in which coal ash has leaked out of its containment area polluted the surrounding environment.
The Rampal plant is set to be built in the floodplain of the Passur and Maidara rivers. According to the Indian
Ministry of Environment and Forests' guidelines for selecting coal-based power plant sites, plants should also not be
constructed less than 500 meters away from the floodplains of rivers. The site averages 2 metres above sea level. A
key construction requirement is to raise the average site elevation by 5 metres, but the site would remain at risk of
flooding should sea levels rise or should an extreme weather event occur.
Government acquired 1,834 acres of land, significantly consisting of farming lands, fisheries and habitations of the
population of dependent on the mentioned. The land is capable of being harvested thrice a year that every year
produced 1,285 tons of rice and 561.41 metric tons of fish. Over 8,000 families are permanent residents of the
allocated land and among them 7,500 families live on the mentioned farming and fisheries.
Even the EIA report of Bangladesh DoE mentioned that, the 75 per cent of the 10 km area of impact is used for
firming that produces 62,353 tons of rice and 140,461 tons of other crops every year. As the rivers and canals of the
area of impact are connected with the mangrove forest, they produce 5,218.66 metric tons of fishes every year. The
entire area going to be unsuitable for firming, jeopardizing the significant amount of production of crops and fishes
due operation of this plant.
The Equator Principles (EP) is a risk management framework adopted by 80 financial institutions from around the
world for assessing and managing environmental and social risk in projects. "Coal imported to fuel the plant will be
transported to the region on ocean-going ships, each having a capacity of 80,000 tons,". "It is estimated that 59 ships
will make the voyage each year to meet the plant's coal requirement. All ships will anchor at Akram point - located
within the Sundarbans - where their massive loads of coal will be offloaded to smaller vessels, posing significant risks
of coal spillage and toxic coal dust being released into the environment." The smaller vessels will travel along the
Passur river between Akram point and the Rampal site, "making a total of 400-500 trips per year directly through the
Sundarbans."

The chief conservationist of Bangladesh, in a letter dated the 29th of September, 2011, told the Ministry of Forests:
"The chief conservationist expresses the opinion that if a coal-based power-plant is constructed near the Sundarbans
area of Khulna it will harm the biodiversity of the Sundarbans. The Ministry is thus requested to reconsider the
construction a coal-based power plant on account of the importance of preserving the biodiversity of the Sundarbans
Ramsar Site."
Referring to recommendations, a top DoE official said the issue of forming an independent monitoring body received
a special emphasis while the approval was given to the much-talked-about project. As per the DoE suggestion, the
independent body or committee will comprise of representatives from different sectors, including environmentalists,
civil society members, university teachers, and experts, who will monitor the every aspect of the government acts
relating to compliance issues. The committee or the body must be free from government influences.
Rampal will have an outdated 'supercritical technology' which is designed for 40 years life of the plant, when most
coal-fired power plants in India and China have 'ultra supercritical technology'. The Department of Environment,
Bangladesh has expressed their concerns about this project but has approved the Environmental impact assessment
(EIA) conditionally with 59 specific points to be addressed. The power plant authority has agreed to comply with all
conditions and yet to issue formal environmental clearance certificate. But the authority is going ahead with the
project and hardly listening to the opinion of local and global expert and even the concern government departments
have reservation about impact on environment and non-viability of project for Bangladesh.
The Department of Environment (DoE), Forest Department, and Shipping Ministry each responded to the letter of
Secretariat of UNESCO and individually expressed concerns about the project's potential to adversely impact the
Sundarbans. The DoE's letter of reply, dated 21 July 2011, advised the Secretariat that it had already given "positional
clearance certification for the project with various conditions related to environment" and had requested a detailed
EIA from the project authority.
India is very keen to implement the plant for their own benefits as they will import electricity for their remote boarder
areas from this plant across the border. Indian coal will be cheaper for this plant and it will import Indian high ash
content coal at "cheaper" price. They will be more beneficial than Bangladesh in both the way.
The writer is Legal Economist
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