Police in Bangladesh clash with protesters over power plant

Published January 26, 2017

Police in Bangladesh's capital have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters demanding cancellation of a plan for a massive coal-fired power plant near ecologically sensitive mangrove forests on the coast. Five people were injured.

The protesters, consisting mostly of leftist political groups and citizens, had called for an eight-hour general strike in Dhaka on Thursday. The violence took place at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, but most of the city was unaffected.

The government insists that the planned 1.3-gigawatt Rampal power station near the Sundarbans, a world heritage site, is key to reaching its target of 24 gigawatts of electrical capacity by 2021.

UNESCO says the plant poses a serious threat to the Sundarbans.

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