Rampal power plant to cause 150 premature deaths, 600 low-weight births annually: Greenpeace

The Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans will cause premature deaths and births of underweight children in Bangladesh as an environmental impact, says Greenpeace.

The world’s largest environmental organisation has said in a report that the power plant will be the 'largest source of air pollution' in Bangladesh and may cause 150 early deaths and 600 underweight births annually.

"The emissions from the Rampal power plant would elevate the levels of toxic particles, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air over entire southwestern Bangladesh," the report says.

Greenpeace claims even the elderly and children in Dhaka and Kolkata will be affected by the pollution.

The summary of the report titled 'Rampal thermal power plant: Possible air pollution and its effects on human health' was presented at a press conference in Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Friday.

Greenpeace coal and air pollution specialist Lauri Myllyvirta, who made the report, joined the press conference via a video call.

The National Committee for Protection of the Sundarbans (NCPS), Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) and the Doctors for Health and Environment (DHE) organised the conference.

The government has been saying the 1320 megawatt plant, being set up in Bagerhat's Rampal jointly with India, will not impact the Sundarbans or the environment.‎

The NCPS and other environmental and citizen groups allege the government is providing 'false information' on the plant. They demand that the project be rolled back.

NCPS Convenor Sultana Kamal told the press conference: "When environment, ecology and human aspects are considered, a coal-based project is in no way acceptable, which is proven in international researches."

She said the government was continuously rejecting scientific data provided against the 'harmful' plant.

Sultana said official claims that the plant will be equipped to protect the Sundarbans were 'false'.

She said the organisation earlier rejected the government's environmental impact assessment report on the plant.

Lauri Myllyvirta said in his report: "If the much laxer emission rates given in the EIA instead of the tender documents were followed, the SO2 emission rates would be approximately seven times as high as in the case based on the tender documents, while NOx, dust and mercury emissions would all be approximately 70 percent higher."

He said that public health in Bangladesh is heavily affected by air pollution, with PM2.5 levels in Khulna six times and in Dhaka nine times the World Health Organization guideline.

According to him, the plant will elevate the levels of toxic particles in air.

The Greenpeace specialist said exposure to pollutants like toxic particles, SO2, and NO2 will increases the risk of diseases such as stroke, lung cancer, heart and respiratory diseases in adults, as well as respiratory symptoms in children.

"This leads to premature deaths from these causes," he said.

"In the proposed plant case, the estimated health impacts due to PM2.5 and NO2 exposure are 150 premature deaths per year (95% confidence interval: 100 to 180), or approximately 6,000 deaths during a 40-year operating life. The estimated number of babies born with a low birth weight due to the pollution would be 600 per year," according to the report.

It says the projected mercury deposition from the Rampal plant could be sufficient to render fish unsafe to eat over an area of approximately 70 square kilometre around the power plant.

"This highly affected area is entirely in the water catchment of the Sundarbans wetland," it adds.

After presenting the summary, Sultana Kamal once again raised the demand to cancel the project, considering public interests and opinion.

DHE President Nazmun Nahar, health researcher M Abu Sayeed, NCPS Member Secretary and BAPA General Secretary Abdul Matin and NCPS member Sharif Jamil also spoke at the conference.