DHAKA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Activists of Pragatishil Chhatra Jote, an alliance of left-leaning student organizations in Bangladesh, on Tuesday resorted to a road blockade in capital Dhaka in protest against a 1.5 billion power plant near Sundarbands, the world's largest mangrove forests which straddle both Bangladesh and India.
The agitating students blocked Dhaka's Shahbagh intersection, one of the major public transportation hubs in Dhaka, and staged demonstration there for about one hour demanding cancellation of the Rampal Thermal Power Plant's construction near the Sundarbans.
Naima Khaled Monika, pragatishil Chhatra Jote leader, said they will stage demonstration across the country on Aug. 18 in support of their demand.
She urged the government not to go ahead with the proposed 1,320-MGW plant, to be built in the area of Rampal in Bangladesh's Bagerhat district, some 178 km southwest of Dhaka.
Protesters also brought out a procession on the Dhaka University campus and broke through police barricades. Several persons were reportedly injured during a scuffle with the law enforcers while breaking through the barricades.
According to the protesters, discharge from the plant like fly ash and sulphur dioxide will have disastrous consequences for the fauna and flora of the mangrove forests -- a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Amid severe criticism from many power experts and green activists, Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) and Indian National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in April 2013 signed three major agreements heading towards implementation of the plant.
Under the deals, the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, a joint venture between the PDB and the NTPC with 50:50 share, will implement the project in which officials claim that super critical technology would be used to curb the much talked about carbon emission.
