UNESCO wants detailed SEA report on Sundarban

The UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC) has recommended the government to detailed out every issue of the 'Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)' report on Sundarban and its adjoining areas to discuss next year.

"The government has submitted SEA but the committee asked the government to make it more detailed one and carry forward all other observations of the earliest session which will be discussed in the next fiscal year, we don't need to attend the 45th session of the WHC meeting," Sharif Jamil President of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) told the Daily Observer on Sunday.

WHC observed that the government should ensure that Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment for the South West region of Bangladesh be carried out as a prerequisite for development projects within or around a World Heritage site.

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

UNESCO had requested the government to undertake a comprehensive Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in order to assess the indirect and cumulative impact from power plants and other developments in the vicinity of the Sundarban, according to the website of the UNESCO.

They suggested that the government include a specific assessment of potential impacts on the "Outstanding Universal Value (OUV)" of the Sundarban.

Since the oil spill in the Sundarban in 2014, the UNESCO has been pursuing the government to monitor the long-term impact on the biodiversity of the Sundarban. It also urged the government to take measures to prevent such incidents in the Sundarban areas.

Meanwhile, the government has cancelled its earlier plan to send a team lead by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury to WHC to describe the government's initiatives to protect the Sundarban from the Rampal 1,320-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant's impact and other measures to protect the forest from other factories, at the extended 45th session of the WHC meeting scheduled to take place from September 10 to 25 at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Director General of Power Cell said, "Our submission was well accepted, everything went well."

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 5,150 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.  

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

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 Sundarban.

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

Earlier, in a statement, Sultana Kamal, Convener of National Committee for Saving the Sundarban, said, "It is unfortunate for us, the people of Bangladesh, that the Sundarban 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 air pollution control technologies or waste disposal systems."

The World Heritage Centre, which enlisted the Sundarban as natural heritage in 1997, has been raising objections about the power plants since the government took the initiative of constructing it at the edge of the forest.