Abandon Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project

It seems that the government has become so obsessed with producing more electricity that they don't care about the effects it will have on our economy and environment. I was very disappointed when I came to know from news reports that Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant would require a staggering $13.5 billion! It has been disclosed that when the government first seriously floated the idea of this plant in 2009, some experts had said that it would require around $2-3 billion.

From the very first moment when people learnt about this plant, they protested vehemently; conscious citizens and experts were against it. They explained the reasons: for instance, Bangladesh is at high risk of earthquake, and we are not as technically developed as countries like Japan. Since Bangladesh is a small country, in case of radiation, people will not be able to move to safer places.

Ignoring all this, how could the government make plans to spend such huge amounts of money to produce electricity when there are innumerable other issues to be addressed? Dhaka has been branded as the second least liveable city. Roads and highways are in a dilapidated condition, rivers and channels are slowly disappearing, traffic jams have become unbearable, hospitals are in a sorry state, our airports are not up to standard, and the list goes on. The government must seriously consider abandoning plans of setting up the Rooppur plant for the sake of the nation.

Nur Jahan
Chittagong