A six-member high profile delegation of Bangladesh government on Tuesday went to Unesco headquarters in Paris of France on a four-day official visit in a bid to convince the UN body to favour the proposed coal-based Rampal power plant near in Sundarbans. The delegation led by Raisul Alam Mondal, director general of the Department of Environment, will hold meetings with the high-ups of Unesco urging it not to relocate the project site, said sources at the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Moreover, the delegation will also urge the Unesco not to place the Sundarbans issue or not to declare the Sundarbans as hazardous place in the upcoming 41st conference of the UN wing. The delegation team is scheduled to return to home on October 28. The power plant, located about 14 kilometres away from the Sundarbans, is set to be implemented by a joint venture of Bangladesh Power Development Board and the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited of India under the name of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company.

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 25, 2016 15:56 UTC