Writ on Rampal project

A writ petition seeking a stay on the execution of the coal-fired power plant at Rampal has been filed in the High Court on Sunday.

Advocate Manzil Morshed , on behalf of four lawyers , filed the petition, seeking a stay on the project until detailed evaluation has been made.

The petition is seeking a rule on why a detailed evaluation of the project should not be ordered by a committee of 'globally acclaimed' environmentalists who could study the impact of the proposed power plant on the fragile eco system of the Sundarbans and the people living in the vicinity of the proposed plant.

The petitioners hope that their plea , filed in the bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed, will come up for hearing on Monday.

Secretaries of the prime minister's office, cabinet division, planning ministry, environment ministry and power ministry as well director general of the department of environment, Power Development Board's chairman, Deputy Commissioner of Bagerhat district and director of the Rampal Coal-fired Power Plant Project have been made party to the case and named as the defendants in the petition.

The petition also seeks an order that would relocate the power plant to an area where the environment will not sustain damage.

It seeks an stay on the on execution of the Rampal power plant until the proposed specialist panel submit its report.

The plaintiffs of the writ are Asaduzzaman Siddiqui, Md Eklas Uddin Bhuiyan, Mahbubul Islam and Syeda Shahin Ara Laily.