Why coalfields abroad have to be taken on lease?

The media reported quoting the government of Bangladesh (GoB) sources that moves are underway to take on lease coal reserves or operating coal mines abroad. Under long term agreements, the GoB wants to facilitate the operators in the sector to take lease of such coal resources abroad to ensure the country's longer-term energy security. The aim is to bring coal from the overseas at static costs to be used largely in coal-fired power plants in the country to mitigate the present power crisis. But the question which cannot be avoided in this connection is: why is this decision to bring coal from other countries when the country has one of the best reserves of good quality coal of the region in very substantial quantities within its own territories? Bangladesh has relatively and easily extractable deposits of some 2.5 billion tonnes of high grade coal buried under its soil. The same can meet the needs of its energy security for long many years in the future. There are possibilities of discovering more coal reserves by that time. The logical course that was dictated, required the fastest completion of all processes to start the production and use of this indigenous coal. But its exploitation was left in a limbo, perhaps from underhand scheming by the vested interest who would like to see, Bangladesh remains dependent on imported coal supplies, keeping the domestic deposits unused showing all kinds of discord over the manner of its exploitation -- whether to extract it by open pit method or underground mining - by linking the issue with environmental safety. Experts say that the proven reserves of gas in the country will be all utilised another 15 years from now if new gas reserves are not found and exploited by that time. This information should have come as a wake-up call for the planners to be really pro-active without losing any further time in rapidly starting the process of extraction and utilization of the country's coal resources for power production. But that decision has been kept in a limbo and the power crunch has, thus, been allowed to deepen with great crippling effects on the economy. There has been a needless hassle over coal-fired power stations as being unclean and their environmental polluting effects. But coal continues to be a major source of power in neighbouring India. Australia is dependent on coal for the most of its power supply and also a large number of other countries. Even the UK keeps on getting a major share of its energy from coal-based power stations. What is most important is to be decisive and start work right away in using the locally avilable vest coal reserves to meet the country's present energy needs and to build energy security. But the development of the coalfields in five places of the country is now on hold as the coal policy has not been finalized at a time the country suffers from a severe energy crisis. M A Aziz Tejgaon, Dhaka