Dhaka: The National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas, Natural Resources and Power-Port has urged people from all walks of life to join its grand rally to be held in Khulna on Thursday protesting setting up of Rampal coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans.

The rally will be held at 3:30pm at Shahid Hadis Park in Khulna city.

The National Committee made the announcement from a press conference of at Mukti Bhaban in the city where it said the Rampal power projects will invite a great disaster for the whole country and the people of the coastal districts will be affected most.

All the scientific researches reveal the Rampal project will put a serious negative impact on the country's environment and ecology. But the main victims will be the coastal people and biodiversity of those areas," said Prof Anu Mohammad, member secretary of the National Committee, while addressing the press conference.

He claimed that Bagerhat, Satkhira, Khulna, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalakhathi, Patuakhali, Bhola and Barisal districts will be affected most for the Rampal project.

Calling to make the April 20 Grand Rally in Khulna a success, Prof Anu Mohammad said people will never accept Rampal project as 5 million people will be directly affected by the project as they will lose their livelihoods while 50 million will suffer indirectly.

Convenor of the National Committee Engineer Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah read out a written statement at the press conference while the organization's leaders Tipu Biswas, Saiful Haque, Ruhin Hossaion Prince, Bazlur Rashid Firoze, Zonaid Saki, Mosharraf Hossain were present on the occasion.

The leaders said the government has been implementing Rampal power plant in the name of resolving power crisis. But there are so many ways to resolve the crisis. But the government is ignoring those ways and working against the national interest by implementing the Rampal project.