UNESCO endorses Bangladesh’s position on Rampal power plant, foreign ministry says

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has withdrawn its earlier objection to the construction of Rampal power plant project at its current location, the foreign ministry says.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 July 2017, 11:53 AM
Updated : 7 July 2017, 08:23 AM

It has also spared the Sundarbans from being relegated to the List of World Heritage in Danger. 

​The decision was made at the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee being held in Krakow, Poland.

A high-level​ inter-ministerial delegation led by Dr Tawfiq-e​-Elahi Chowdhury, adviser to the prime minister on power, energy and mineral resources affairs, is participating in the meeting to defend Bangladesh's position. ​

The 21-member ​World Heritage Committee decides on whether a cultural or natural site should be inscribed on the World Heritage List, monitors the state of conservation of heritage sites and can place a site on the World Heritage in Danger if the site is not being properly ​managed by the relevant state.

The Sundarbans was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 in consideration of its outstanding universal value as a unique ecosystem.

In recent years, the World Heritage Committee expressed its concern over the state of conservation of the Sundarbans world heritage property and called upon Bangladesh to take steps to improve conservation of the mangrove forest.

In addition to the issue of ensuring adequate fresh water flow into the Sundarbans and preventing poaching and over-extraction of its resources, the decision by the government to construct a coal-based power plant at Rampal ​came under the radar of World Heritage Committee.

Earlier in 2016, a monitoring mission from UNESCO recommended the relocation of Rampal power plant considering its likely impact on the Sundarbans. 

A group of Bangladeshi activists was also demanding its relocation.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said the committee after a long deliberation endorsed “Bangladesh's decision to construct Rampal power plant at its current location with necessary mitigation measures”.

The committee in its decision also welcomed the steps taken by Bangladesh since 2016 to ensure conservation of the Sundarbans World Heritage Property, according to the statement.

At the request of the committee, Bangladesh agreed to undertake a strategic environmental assessment of the southwestern region of the country, including the Sundarbans.

Welcoming the committee's decision, the PM’s adviser Chowdhury thanked the committee members “for helping the government of Bangladesh in striking an optimum balance between economic development and heritage conservation”.

He also assured the committee of Bangladesh's “full cooperation in ensuring conservation of the outstanding universal value of the Sundarbans, a prized possession of the nation,” the foreign ministry said.

"The team led by Chowdhury presented its argument before the committee which has now backed away from its earlier stance for relocation of the project," M Shahidul Islam, Bangladesh's ambassador in France, told Somoy TV by phone.

"They changed their view because we were able to provide adequate replies to their concerns," said Islam, who was part of the delegation. 

"They are convinced because of the mitigation measures we presented, the ones that involved use of advanced technology."    

"They said we can build the plant in the location by implementing our mitigation plans. They have asked for the strategic environmental assessment and Bangladesh has accepted the demand."   

U-turn?

The UNESCO had actually urged the committee to again push for the relocation of the Rampal project in its report on the state of the Sundarban's conservation.

The Bangladesh government's "long list of plans" to mitigate the impact of the thermal power plant on the world's largest mangrove forest lacked supporting evidence, the committee was told.

Failure to meet the recommendations made by its monitoring mission last year would put the Sundarbans on the List of World Heritage in Danger next year, it had said.

The current state of Sundarbans was not bad enough to put it on the list but the mission's recommendations on "freshwater flows, large-scale developments in the vicinity of the property and integrated management" were vital to preserving its outstanding universal value or OUV.

" … in the absence of substantial progress with the implementation of the above, the Committee should consider inscribing the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger at its 42nd session."

The recommendations then included relocation of the Rampal project, carrying out a strategic environmental assessment before starting construction and stopping dredging at Pashur river until completion of proper assessment.

It said shipping activity would increase because of the Rampal plant and an expansion plan for Mongla port, which in turn would raise risks of spills, like the oil spill from December 2014 and at least four more similar incidents that followed.

In light of UNESCO's draft decision sent to the committee, Bangladesh had until Feb 1 to report its progress before the committee reconvenes for its 42nd session.  

The members who formed the Bangladesh delegation are Secretary Power Division Dr Ahmed ​Kaikaus, Bangladesh Ambassador to France and Permanent Representative to UNESCO M Shahidul Islam, Additional Secretary for Ministry of Environment and Forests Ziaur Rahman, DG of the Department of Environment Raisul Alam Mondal, PDB Chairman Khalid Mahmud, DG of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain and Director of Department of Environment Dr Sultan Ahmed.