‘Govt making all-out effort to destroy Sundarbans’

As the Unesco proposal to put Sundarbans on the list of “World Heritage in Danger”  is around the corner, Bangladesh government’s inadequacy to protect the forest is about to bring “great shame” for the country, said economist Prof Anu Muhammad yesterday.

“The government is supposed to take all-out effort to save Bangladesh’s only globally recognised world natural heritage site. Instead, the government is making all-out effort to destroy it,” he said during a meeting at the capital’s Mukti Bhaban.

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The eminent environmentalist demanded that the government immediately stop building controversial Rampal coal-based power plant near the Sundarbans, saying the plant is a great threat to the natural habitat of the world’s largest mangrove forest.

National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, arranged the meeting on the budget, and Rampal and Rooppur power plant projects.

Unesco’s World Heritage Committee recently proposed to put the Sundarbans on the list of “World Heritage in Danger” in the proposed agenda for its 43rd session to be held in Azerbaijan’s Baku from June 30 to July 10.

The World Heritage Centre has been raising objections about Rampal power plant. Although the government has claimed that the plant would not pose threats to the Sundarbans, Unesco and environmentalist groups were never convinced.

Criticising high budget allocation for Rampal, Rooppur and Matarbari projects, Prof Muhammad said in the long run, this would also create financial burden for the country.