Public Meeting:
Building Bridges Across Borders to Save Sundarbans

Speaker: Prof. Anu Muhammad
Member-Secretary, National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, Bangladesh &
Prof of Economics at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh

Venue: Indian Social Institute
Date & Time: Nov 13, 2016 3-5pm

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest, is under threat. Apart from the rapid deforestation, the unbridled expansion of industries is threatening the ecosystem, on which millions of people both in Bangladesh and India depend for their livelihood, which is home to the world-renowned Royal Bengal Tiger and the highly vulnerable Irrawaddy Dolphin and the natural barrier from climate impacts like cyclones and tsunamis.

One such industrial project is the Rampal Power Project – also called the Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL), built in Bangladesh.

NTPC owns 50% equity in the project – with Bangladesh Power Development Board owning the other half, almost 70% (or approx 1.6 billion dollars and counting) will come from the Indian Export Import 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.

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 fishworkers and forest dwellers depending on it, apart from the damage to the natural protection from natural calamities.

People’s Movements from India has extended their support to the movement in Bangladesh. 11 senior activists from India took part in a long march organized by the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports in March 2016, to extend the solidarity and support to the non-violent struggle.

Prof Anu Muhammad, who is a leading activist of the National Committee will speak about the enormity of the impacts and ways of building bridges of solidarity among the people of both neighboring countries.

Please attend the public meeting. Please help us spread the word.

In Solidarity,

Delhi Solidarity Group

Contacts:
Sanjeev Kumar: +91-995-879-7409
Priya D: +91-965-468-0488