Govt to submit report on Sundarban at UNESCO meet in Riyadh

Government to submit a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) study report on the Sundarban and its adjoining areas to the committee of the UNESCO at the Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) meeting scheduled to take place from 10 to 25 September in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury will lead the Bangladesh team and describe the government initiatives taken to protect the Sundarban from the Rampal 1,320-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant's impact and other initiatives to protect the forest from other factories.

A 16 to 20 member committee led by Chowdhury will take part in the 45th session, sources said.

"Earlier, Bangladesh got time to complete the report for the Covid pandemic, they allowed us the time, we will submit the government plans to undertake a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) study on the Sundarban and its adjoining areas and submit the report before the committee," a senior member of the Bangladesh team told the Daily Observer on Monday preferring anonymity.

"The WHC will evaluate those documents in its session and then decide the status of the World's largest mangrove forest the Sundarbans in the 'Heritage List," the official said.

Meanwhile, two proposed coal-fired power plants, the Unit 2 of the Rampal coal-fired power plant, did not get a go-ahead signal in consideration of their consequences.

It is reported that UNESCO also requested Bangladesh to submit to the world heritage centre an updated report on the state of conservation of the forest and the implementation of the above which would be  
examined by the WHC at its 43rd session in 2019.

It said that over 150 industrial projects were also active upstream of the site and their associated shipping and dredging activities further threatened the hydrological and ecological dynamics of the region. Especially the coal transportation issue is a grave threat for the mangrove forest.

Meanwhile, the government defends the Rampal power plant project by saying that 'supercritical technology' will be used to prevent toxic gases and ash from being released into the atmosphere.

Citing a report from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) published in 2013, the government claims that the amount of sulphur dioxide in the air in general is 8 micrograms per cubic meter. Due to coal burning in Rampal, the sulphur dioxide will rise to 53 micrograms per cubic meter in the November-February period. The government argues that 53 micrograms per cubic meter of sulphur dioxide is an acceptable level in residential and rural areas.

In case of the Rampal coal-based power plant, water used from the Posur River will eventually be dumped back into the river after use at 5150 cubic meters per hour. It will also add polluted water coming out of the scrubber used to capture contaminated ash and air. This contaminated water will eventually flow directly into the river and enter the Sundarban.  

The temperature is rising day by day, and the melting of polar ice-caps is raising the sea level. The level of harmful particles in the atmosphere is also on the rise. Every day we are constantly polluting the environment and air. In the face of such harsh realities, large forests like the Amazon, Congo and the Sundarban play a major role in balancing the effects of climate change. So it is time we become sincere in our efforts to save the Sundarbans, UNESCO said.  

Government is reviewing the impact on the ecology of about 154 industries and factories that are located in the vicinity of the Sundarbans on the same ground although most of these factories were built during the 1960s and 70s, according to the Department of Environment (DoE).

According to the draft, the WHC once again regretted that the government was yet to finalise the National Oil Spill Chemical and Contingency Plan and provide further information and data on the monitoring of long-term impacts from shipping incidents involving spills of hazardous materials.

The WHC requested the government to implement the relevant recommendations of SEA and submit the necessary documents to the WHC Centre.

It also requested the government to implement the Tiger Action Plan and National Tiger Recovery Plan, expansion of the wildlife sanctuaries and the adoption of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 to protect and expand the Sundarbans.

However, the WHC also expressed concerns about the likely impacts of large-scale industrial projects around the Sundarbans and requested the government to take all necessary mitigation measures as per the recommendations made earlier by the members of WHC Reactive Monitoring Mission, the draft said.

Earlier, in a statement, Sultana Kamal, Convener of National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans, said, "It is unfortunate for us, the people of Bangladesh, that the Sundarbans World Heritage Site has been endangered by a consortium of nations who are building coal plants at Rampal (Maitree),
Taltali (Barishal) and Kalapara (Payra and Patuakhali) - plants that do not have state of the art pollution control technologies or waste disposal systems."

"If not stopped, these plants will put the Sundarbans at significant risk of severe air and water pollution," she said in a press statement following the UNESCO decision to defer action.