Using country\\\'s own coal reserves

That the extraction of sufficient amount of coal from its own deposits for generation of a substantial portion of the country's future power requirement is largely dependent on hard political decisions is now quite clear. Notwithstanding the country's proven reserves of quality coal, the policymakers have for long been caught up in a dilemma as far as their extraction is concerned. This has primarily been because of the opposition coming from the environmentalists and the people living in the coalmine areas. The country would have to use expensive fuel oil or imported coal to produce greater volume of electricity in the coming days against the backdrop of its fast depleting gas reserves.   

The situation with coal mining has reached such a stage that the major portion of the estimated 2,500 million tonnes of coal reserves of the country would, apparently, remain unused for ever. In view of the recent developments about the use of renewable energy, the non-renewable ones such as that of coal are most likely to become irrelevant within the next five decades. Admittedly, its use for power generation has negative impacts but still coal remains the best available and cheap source of energy. The recoverable size of the coal deposits is enough to meet various demands of the country for at least 30 years. Thus, given its importance, the issue of coal extraction was discussed at a consultation meeting on the Seventh Five Year Plan, convened by the ministry of planning last Sunday. Attendees who included ministers, high officials and experts were unanimous about taking a hard decision favouring early extraction of coal.

However, the emphasis on taking a tough political decision aimed at lifting coal of the maximum possible quantity is not entirely new.  In the past also, identical views were expressed by policymakers as well as experts. But the situation on the ground has remained more or less unchanged. Only recently, has the highest authority of the government asked the ministry of energy and mineral resources to go on with the plan to introduce open pit mining method, instead of underground mining in the northern part of the Barapukuria coalmine. However, there would be a feasibility study that is expected to take into account the issues including rehabilitation of the people to be affected by the new method of mining and disbursement of compensation money.

However, nothing can be more frustrating if imported coal is used for power generation, keeping the country's own coal deposits unexploited. This is particularly so because days are not far off when conventional or fossil fuel would hardly be used for power generation in the context of fast developments on uses of renewable energy sources at relatively low costs. Yet, the vested interests are trying to keep the country dependent on cost-intensive conventional energy sources. Unless measures are taken at the earliest for use of coal, the energy source would simply turn into useless lumps of carbon beneath the ground.