The coastal thermal power plant in the Kotla based on the estuary of Khotta Char and Patra river in Barguna's Taltali has started a varied disaster in the life of nature and people.
Since the production of electricity, the river has become unusually hot and salty, the locals have said that the damage to the coastal trees has taken a magnifying form.
Nishanbaizir Farmer Abdus Salam Matubbar said, "Earlier, he used to sell coconuts and betel nuts worth thousands of rupees a year. Now there are no flowers on the tree branches, so it is far from it. He fears that the entire area will be without trees in a year.
The Patra river, which is famous for hilsa, is now a fishing-free, claiming that the hot water and the irrigation of the power plant are destroying the normal temperature and oxygen level of the river, which is why the fishing areas of the river, including hilsa, are fleeing the area, which is why thousands of river-dependent fishermen are in deep crisis.
Yunus Ali, a fisherman in Jaalbhanga, said that he used to fish for a few thousand rupees in one night, but he has to struggle to run his family for three or four days.
Before the start of the power plant, agriculture and fishing was the main livelihood of people in Taltali and Khotta Char regions. Now in both cases, many families have fallen below the poverty line, some are moving to other districts, some are forced to risk occupations. The social life of the coast has descended on the shroud of uncertainty.
Local doctors said that there are many complications including skin problems, respiratory problems, water borne diseases, and the shortage of clean water has also become a troubling form. Children and scatters are the most affected by the cycle of pollution.
To protect the earth, we are the member secretary of Barguna district branch, journalist Mushfiq Arif, said that the ash, hot water and chemical waste of the thermal power plant are causing polluting land, rivers and air, according to them, this part of the canal will become a dead river very quickly if strict surveillance and waste control is not done.
He said that the authorities are not taking any effective action despite the fact that the disaster has been reported for years, but the environment is not being supervised by the Department of Environment, but the general public is paying the main price.
Started working in 2017, on January 1, 2022, this thermal power plant with a capacity of 307 MW is being run under Barisal Electric Power Company Limited, which has been built on the joint investment of Powata Chautna Resource and Bangladesh Isotech Group.
palatable The voice of the people now wants only one demand, but in the exchange of life, the production of electricity is not the same as the population, so this coastal region, river, trees, agriculture and the lives of numerous fishermen must be saved.
