Dhaka: The National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas, Natural Resource and Power-Port on Thursday started its 4-day mass long march from Dhaka towards the Sundarbans in protest against the government’s move to set up a 1320 MW coal-fired power plant at Rampal near the forest, reports local news agency.

Thousands of activists of different left leaning parties, mainly from Workers Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), BSD, and Ganosanghati Andolon joined the long march with a motorcade of buses.

Organisers said the long march will reach Faridpur on Thursday afternoon and reach Khulna on Friday and finally reach Sundarbans on 13 March.

‘Rampal project is a project of betrayal.... It’s a destructive project. We’ll resist implementation of the project through a united movement’, said member secretary of the National Committee Anu Mohammad while addressing a rally prior to starting the long march in front of the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

He alleged that the government is implementing the Rampal power project to serve the interest of Indian profit-monger businessmen.

Anu Mohammad said the government is implementing the Rampal power project ignoring all opinions of the international experts who said this scheme will destroy the Sundarbans.