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October 18, 2016

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister on Rampal Power Project

Respected Prime Minister,

We, the people’s movements and other civil society organisations in India, draw your urgent attention to the serious issues emerging from the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Rampal Power Project), being built near the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sundarbans in Bangladesh.

This project is opposed by people in Bangladesh and India for its monumental social and environmental negative impacts, particularly the irreversible damage to Sundarbans and the fragile ecosystem around it.

40% of the Sundarbans is in India and any damage to that will have devastating impacts on thousands of fish-workers and forest dwellers depending on it, apart from the damage to the natural protection from natural calamities like tsunami and cyclones.

The project is partly owned by NTPC, financed by Indian Exim Bank, equipment’s supplied by BHEL and PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited, India contracted for long term coal sourcing. Hence India’s share in this project is significant.

People in Bangladesh, under the umbrella of National Oil, Gas, Mineral Resource, Power and Port Protection Committee have been opposing the project, with the support of movements from different parts, including India. The leader of the National Committee Prof Anu Muhammad has been receiving death threats for the role he is playing for opposing the project.

While we condemn univocally death threats to Prof Anu Muhammad, we would urge you to request the Bangladesh government to ensure the safety of political activists there.

Further, we urge you to look at the colossal damage this project is causing to people and environment in India and Bangladesh and withdraw India’s support to the project.

Signed by:

Ashok Chowdhury & Roma Malik, All India Union of Forest Working People

Madhuresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

Narmada Bachao Andolan

Soumya Dutta, Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha

National Hawker Federation

Abhijit, Lokayat, Pune

Afsar Jafri, Focus on the Global South

All India Forum of Forest Movements

Ashok Shrimali – Secretary General of mm&P

Ayesha DSouza, Centre for Financial Accountability

Bharat Patel, Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan

Environics Trust

Environment Support Group – Trust, Bangalore

Equations

Gautam Bandyopadhyay, Nadi Ghati Morcha

Gururaja Budhya, Urban Research Centre, Bangalore, India.

Himanshu Damle, Public Finance Public Accountability Collective (PFPAC)

Himanshu Thakkar. South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People. Delhi

Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)

Indigenous Perspectives

Jiten Yumnam, Secretary, Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur

Kiran Shaheen, Aql ki Dhaba,

Krishnakant, Mithi Virdi

Maglin Peter, Teeradesa Mahila Vedi

Mahan Sangarsh Samiti

Manipur Cycle Club

Manshi Asher,  Himdhara Collective, Himachal Pradesh

Muthukrishnan, writer / Activist Madurai

North East Peoples Alliance

Priya Pillai, Greenpeace India

PT George, Intercultural Resources.

Ravi Rebbapragada, Executive Director, Samata India

Samir Mehta, International Rivers South Asia

Shripad Dharmadhikary, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Pune/Badwani

Shweta Tripathi, Society for Rural Urban & Tribal Initiative (SRUTI)

Sundararajan, Sundararajan, Poovulagin Nanbargal, KKNPP

Tarini Manchanda, filmmaker

The Research Collective

Umesh Babu, Delhi Forum

Vaishali Patil, Forum Against Disastrous Project in Konkan.

Vijay Pratap, South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy (SADED)

Vimalbhai, Matu Jansangthan

Xavier Dias, Khan Kaneej Aur Adhirkar

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