Coal mining, German example
The news articles "Mining with a vision ?" and "Germany shows the way" by Sharier Khan published respectively on August 4, and August 5, 2007 are well written to convince the general reader in accepting a highly controversial geo-scientific issue like open-pit mining for its implementation in Bangladesh without going into more critical explanations.
The justification for open-pit mining in Bangladesh dragging example from Germany as put forward by Mr. Sharier might be challenged citing a news article published in Natural Resources on March 21, 2007 by Steffen Winter where it was written, "Germany has little oil or natural gas, but it does have large reserves of another resource: lignite. However its extraction through open cast mining is highly controversial -- and can lead to the disappearance of entire villages". It further states that "the excavators used at the mining facilities have devastated an area equal to 182,000 soccer fields, wiping at least 244 villages and neighborhoods off the map". More interestingly it states that "Central German Brown Coal Mining Company (Mibrag) has been owned by US investors -- Washington Group International and NRG Energy -- since 1994. There's no shortage of money, and the firm is used to dealing with public resistance: The company has been trying to access the coal beneath the town of Heuersdorf in Saxony since 1994. The citizens protested, but then the so-called "Heuersdorf Law" was passed by Saxony's state parliament, stating that the village -- which is 709 years old -- has to be vacated by 2008. The dead buried in the cemetery will be moved to new graves and the church will be rebuilt elsewhere".
In my opinion, the German example will not simply work in Bangladesh because the two countries exist in totally different socio-economic, political, physio-graphical, hydro-geological, and overall geological conditions.
I also very humbly propose that you organise a public debate on this very vital national issue that would help us to understand the problem in a more transparent way.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
NHRC response to The Daily Star editorial
25 April 2024, 05:00 AM
Letters to the Editor
Destruction of Hargazi Canal
24 April 2024, 08:18 AM
Letters to the Editor
Trapped in a never-ending scroll?
31 December 2023, 13:37 PM
Letters to the Editor
When will the government learn from past dengue outbreaks?
22 August 2023, 03:00 AM
Letters to the Editor
Install fire-escape facilities in every building
17 August 2023, 20:03 PM
Letters to the Editor
Comments