UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee, has urged the government to make confirmed that any large-scale industrial and/or infrastructure developments will not be allowed to build before a strategic environmental impact assessment is completed in and around the Sunderbans.
According to a publication revealed on Thursday night, the committee’s 41st session also urged the government to submit a copy of the assessment report to the World Heritage Centre as soon as it was available.
On July 9, prime minister’s energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury at a press conference claimed that the UNESCO committee exempted the Rampal power project outside the purview of its embargo in development of large-scale infrastructure or industry near the Sunderbans.
The UNESCO committee also requested the government to submit an updated report to the World Heritage Centre, by December 1, 2018, on the state of conservation of the Sunderbans for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019.