A total of 144 civil society organisations in the country on Monday submitted four separate open letters to the government authorities concerned, demanding the cancellation of the proposed 635-megawatt Orion coal-fired power plant at Maheshkhali in Cox鈥檚 Bazar.
The letters were submitted to the advisers of the finance, environment, forest and climate change, and power and energy ministries, as well as to the authorities of Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited.
Their demands included the cancellation of the environmental impact assessment, the power purchase agreement, and the withdrawal of allocated loans and land leases for the project.
The open letters stated that if the project was implemented, it would emit approximately 4,61,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually along with large quantities of other harmful gases, fly ash and bottom ash, posing serious threats to public health, biodiversity, and the marine ecosystem.
Additionally, the project would require coal imports worth about Tk 15.87 billion annually and incur Tk 30.59 billion in capacity charges, putting significant pressure on the national economy and foreign currency reserves.
In the letter submitted to the Ministry of Power and Energy, the signatories emphasised that despite repeated implementation failures, project deadlines have continuously been extended, violating contract terms, undermining national interests and contradicting renewable energy goals.
The letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change highlighted various flaws and alleged data suppression in the EIA report and called for its immediate cancellation.
The letter to the CPGCBL demanded the annulment of a controversial lease of 225 acres of land which was originally intended for a renewable energy project.