Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday allayed environmental concerns over the coal-fired power plant to be set up jointly with India near the Sundarbans and warned Opposition BNP that attempts to create anarchy on the issue will be scuttled with an “iron hand”.
“let me tell you one thing, I would have been the first person to oppose the power plant had there been a slightest chance of damage of the Sundarbans,” she said.
Hasina issued a stern warning against attempts to create anarchy by “making a non-issue an issue”, saying “we will not hesitate to control it with an iron hand”.
The Premier’s comments came three days after Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief and ex-premier Khaleda Zia termed the proposed Rampal coal-fired power plant “anti- people” and “unprofitable” as she asked the Government to pull back from the project for the sake of the country’s ecological balance.
“If the project is implemented, our beloved motherland will no longer remain a place worthy of living...No citizen of the country will accept it,” Zia had said while expressing her fear that it would reduce employment opportunities for the people who depend on the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
“We cannot allow anyone to implement its plot to destroy the Sundarbans. It is a timely demand to resist the evil efforts of making profit and gaining unethical interests sacrificing the country’s existence and interests,” Zia had said.