The Bangladesh-India Joint Steering Committee (JSC) meeting, scheduled to be held on October 10 in New Delhi, will discuss some bilateral issues. Establishment of an electricity corridor using the Bangladesh territory to transmit around 6,000 megawatts of hydro-electricity from Arunachal Pradesh to Bihar through Bangladesh is one of the issues. The electricity transmission line is set to run from Rangia Raota of Assam to Borakpur of Bihar through Dinajpur's Barapukuria.
India believes that Arunachal Pradesh has the potential to produce 50,000 megawatts of hydro electricity and also Nepal's hydropower potential is estimated to be about 80,000 megawatts, according to Peter Young of the Adam Smith International, an adviser to the Nepal government. Bangladesh also may take the same opportunity to transmit 20,000mw or more hydro-electricity from Nepal via India by building a gridline under a joint-venture mega green power hydro-electricity generation project there.
Bangladesh has a target to ensure electricity supplies to the tune of around 24,000MW by 2021 and 40,000MW by 2030 to meet the mounting demand and upgrade the country's status to a middle income category. Proper use of Nepal's hydro-electricity potential is the best option to meet our country's growing demand by 2030. Our government is going to build three or more coal-fired 1320mw power plants at Rampal, Matarbari and Moheshkhali Island at a combined cost of more than US $ 9.0 billion.
The Planning Commission (PC) has informed that since the Rampal 1320mw plant will be set up by a newly-formed joint-venture private limited company, as per the government rules and regulations, the approval of the project is beyond its preview. Bangladesh environmentalist activists and development experts have opposed construction of the Rampal power plant due to the possible environmental damage it may do to the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.
Environmentalists say as coal-based power plants create serious environmental pollution, no country in the world usually gives permission to set up any large coal-fired plant within 20 to 25km of a forest, agricultural land or residential area. The Sundarbans is just 14km off Rampal, the site where the plant will be set up.
The same environmental damage will be caused to Cox's Bazar. Its potential of tourism and business will be eroded after construction of a deep-sea port. We can pin hopes on our honourable Prime Minister that she would take necessary steps to implement a joint-venture hydro-electricity project in Nepal to fulfil the target of making 40,000MW electricity available by 2030 and overcome the environmental pollution.
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