Several thousand people of Phulbari and neighbouring Nababganj, Birampur and Parbatipur thronged to express their concerns over the coalmine project, which they said, would jeopardise their existence and livelihood. They formed a 5-km human chain on Dhaka-Dinajpur highway halting movement of vehicles for several hours.

They chanted slogans: Asia Energy go back " we want to live in our ancestral homes peacefully. We do not want ruination of our homes, business establishments, educational institutions, mosques, temples and graveyards. We do not want environmental catastrophe in our locality.

This was the second such big demonstration after the first one was held a few weeks earlier to this. It seems that the demonstration is gaining strength with more and more people joining it.

Asia Energy, a UK-based mining company, is about to award the extraction right of Phulbari coalmine. They have already completed the drilling works and claimed that some 400 million tons of coal is deposited in the mine. In their brochure, they claimed that they need 1,000 hectares of land for open-pit type of mining to extract coal and there 50,000 people would be dislodged.

The concerns vented by the people do have any ground? Although, Asia Energy claimed that only 50,000 people would be displaced, but locals and experts said some six lakh people of four upazials of Dinajpur would be directly affected by the open-pit mining.

The entire Dinajpur district is a densely populated area with highly fertile agricultural land. Most of the land of the area is three-cropped and agriculture is the livelihood of 75 percent people of the area.

Open-pit mining is less costly but more damaging for environment. It requires large area for dumping overburdens. According to estimate, the ratio of overburdens and coal is 25:1 that is 25 metric tons of overburdens would have to be removed for one metric ton of coal. This underground overburdens having high degree of pollutants will be dumped in the surrounding rivers, water bodies or marshy lands. The pollutants will not only contaminate the surrounding water bodies but the rivers, canals and water bodies of entire lower riparian areas of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Bogra, Joypurhat, Sirajganj and Naogaon. The mineral pyrites, commonly found in rocks containing coal seam, if exposed to air and water form sulphuric acid and iron hydroxide. When rainwater washes over the rocks, the water runoff becomes acidified, which can affect local soils, rivers and streams.

Other environmental issues associated with open-pit mining is acid mine drainage (AMD) and acid rain and ground level ozone contamination. AMD is metal rich water caused from the chemical reaction between water and rocks containing sulpher-bearing minerals. The acid runoff dissolves heavy metals such as copper, lead, mercury into ground water and surface water. Environmental effects of AMD include contamination of drinking water, and disrupted growth and reproduction of aquatic plants and animals.

Open-pit mining emits huge SO2 and NOx gases and react in the atmosphere, water, oxygen and other chemicals to from acidic compounds. These compounds are highly toxic and hazardous for human and animal health.

The Asia Energy claimed that the Phulbari mine has the potential to transform the northwest Bangladesh into a mining and industrial region, and bring new wealth, employment and opportunity to a predominantly poor subsistence agricultural economy.

But how the people of the area would be benefited? According to the company 50,000 people will be resettled and the company will be able to provide initially 2,100 jobs and subsequently 1100 jobs. But who will get the highly skilled jobs, obviously not the people of the locality. Being displaced from their homesteads and farming profession, and devastated by toxic wastes and other environmental hazards, what benefit the people of the four upazilas would get?

The multinational companies always hang carrots in front of people. The company would definitely assure the people to rehabilitate them in alternative houses. But is it possible to provide the displaced people with same types of homesteads they would lose? Besides, villages are built over hundreds of years and people live in their homes generations after generations. The memories, the love for own homestead can never be compensated.

Now let's see how much the country would get, how much the people would lose after implementation of the project. As far as the existing royalty is concerned, Bangladesh would get 6 percent royalty from the coal extraction. That means, the country would get 24 million tons of coal worth Tk 9,072 crore (@ US$ 60 per ton) according to the current international market price. But what price would have to give to the local people?

I would like to furnish a conservative calculation about the loss that people would have to incur. As per the brochure of the Asia Energy, a 6x3 km area would be evacuated for implementing the open-pit mining. That means, 3,000 hectares of land would be taken out from cultivation for the next 50 years (30 years mining period plus 20 years reclamation, if it happens at all). Phulbari is a three-crop area and if I calculate the cost of paddy only, excluding the high-value crops like potato, chili, banana, vegetables, it would cause a loss of Tk 2500 crore (@ 60 maunds per hectares per crop season). The fruits to be grown and foul reared in the homesteads, fishes produced in the rivers and water bodies would cost another Tk 1,000 crore during the next 50 years. The lion's share of the loss will come from the jobless people. At least 100,000 people engaged in agriculture would lose their jobs due to their displacement and the cost would be Tk 3,000 per man per month. The total loss will stand at Tk 25,000 crore in the next 50 years from. If we include the cost of the environmental damage and losses of the surrounding districts, the loss figure would be a bigger one.

Then who would be benefited from the project? The Asia Energy will reportedly invest US $ 1.5 billion for the next 30 years (Tk 93 billion), but how much they will receive? They will get 376 million metric tons of coal worth US $ 22.56 billion (Tk 1,421 billion).

The Asia Energy cited examples of Australia, India, Indonesia and Germany where open-pit type of mining exists. But we should not forget the geographical position and demographic situation of Bangladesh. The mining is done in those countries in areas where there is no or less human habitation. The population density of the referred countries is much less than that of Bangladesh, especially of the proposed mining area. There is not a single example across the world of displacing such a huge population, especially those fully dependant on land, for implementing any project.

Our politicians, bureaucrats, planners and bourgeois-comparador class want immediate benefit. They want profit from anywhere, event at the cost of others. If the coalmine is implemented, no doubt, they would be benefited, but seemingly at the cost of six lakh people of Phulbari region.

Nazrul Islam is a freelance journalist and environmentalist.