The coal zone of Bangladesh is incidentally located in the high productivity Dinajpur- Rangpur region. The land formation and other features do not favour underground mining in an economic way. That is why several mining companies of repute from Australia, Belgium and other places did not proceed earlier, despite the presence of a significant reserve of coal in the area. The Chinese company was given permission to undertake mining in Barapukuria in a non-transparent manner and before that manipulations were made to show the project commercially viable. It's true that the project so far did not cause visible environmental damage, but Bangladesh has accounted for a huge amount of foreign exchange for this failed project and is continuing to bear the burden of the curse thrust upon the nation. Coal is the only other viable indigenous energy source that we have apart from natural gas. We must find out ways to explore and exploit it in the most economic way to ensure long-term energy security. We must make comparative pain/gain of open pit mining wherever possible. Developers or the government can ensure proper rehabilitation and income regeneration of 50,000 people if the mining brings long-term benefit for the country. The AEC deal can be re-evaluated to critically analyse its implications.

Bangladesh does not have the capacity ( technical or financial) to undertake mining, we must realise that truth. In developed countries and even in developing countries there are many examples of mining lease. We can examine those. Royalty limit can be ascertained. No investor will come to a corrupt or disorganised country to risk their money, we have to realise that also. Given all these and considering the situation of Barapukuria, Bangladeshi experts at home and overseas may explore the appropriate strategy to exploit the coal resources. Without doing an in-depth exercise it won't be prudent to say we won't allow open pit mining.

I wonder why Barapukuria botch-up is not getting any attention of our patriotic forces. The Daily Star is trying to expose the misdeeds, but nobody seems to bother about the money siphoning.