After the conclusion of the march, a rally was held on Urbashi Cinema Hall ground around 3:30pm, where speakers urged the government to cancel the Phulbari coal mining deal with Asia Energy Corporation.

The speakers told the rally that at least five lakh people of three upazilas in Dinajpur and in the surrounding areas of Phulbari would be driven away and a severe environmental catastrophe would come about including depletion of groundwater level if coal is extracted using open-pit method in the area. Half of the Phulbari Township might be required to be shifted elsewhere, they said.

The speakers urged the government not to allow Asia Energy Corporation (AEC) to set up a coal mining plant in Phulbari. AEC is a multinational company with no prior experience in coal energy, which got the contract for coal extraction in the area.

The company is using all its public relation resources to dazzle the government and to influence it to adopt open-pit method in mining for coal in the area, the speakers told the rally.

Environmental experts at the rally demanded immediate cancellation of the Phulbari Coal Project contract signed with AEC.

The affected area might lose natural vegetation and falling water level might harm agriculture, leading to food shortage. The plant might even harm the fish resources of the area as the marshlands would fall within the folds of the mining area, the speakers observed. Though the damage caused by the plant might not be visible in the short-run, the long-term harms could be irreparable, the speakers alleged.

Terming the contract as 'against the interest of the country', they said extraction of coal in open-pit system would cause damage to the environment of the whole area and will also hinder economic activities in the area.

The speakers also said according to the agreement, AEC would extract coal for 30 years in an open-pit system and would export two thirds of the quantity. The company would have ownership of the mine during the mining period and Bangladesh would receive only a six percent royalty as well as taxes and duties, they said.

The rally was presided over by Engr Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah where Prof Anu Muhammad, Manjurul Ahsan Khan, Haidar Akbar Khan Rano, Roni Hossain Prince, Moshrefa Mishu, Advocate Abdus Salam and Abdul Moteen Khan spoke.

Ahsan Habib Deepu, an official of AEC, however, dispelled such concerns and said the project would maintain the world's highest environmental standards, and any negative impact on the environment would be managed with high priority.

Local people fear that more than 4,70,000 people of Phulbari, Nababganj, Birampur and Parbatipur upazilas, including 8,000 of the indigenous communities, would be displaced. AEC however, predicts the number to be around 50,000.

Agitation has already begun in the area with the Phulbari Raksha (Protection) Committee leading the movement. Members of the committee believe the project would be 'suicidal' for Bangladesh.

The committee has been agitating adopting different programmes such as hartals, processions and rallies. Last December, black flags were hoisted all over the area protesting the project.

AEC sources said the affected people would be relocated locally in other villages and in parts of the Phulbari Township.

Around 50,000 people would have to be rehabilitated throughout the mining period, the source added.

AEC is now awaiting an agreement with the government to develop an open-pit coal mine in Phulbari at a cost of US$ 1.6 billion. The mining plant would extract nearly 572 million tons of coal over a period of 30 years, creating about 10,000 jobs.

If the government signs the deal, the company would go into production in 2008, and it believes it would exploit 15 million tons of coal a year for export and for use in domestic coal-fired power plants.

Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Private Limited would also build a river port at a cost of $40 million near the Khulna port to handle shipments of up to eight million tons of coal.

The area has a reserve of about 572 million tons of coal, an AEC source said.