DHAKA: Prime minister`s energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said the final coal policy is likely to come into public domain by the yearend, thereby ending inordinate delays in its making.

“The national policy will be published by the yearend taking advice from the specialists in the field--the draft on it has already been prepared,” he told a seminar at the Petrobangla office at Karwan Bazar.

Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla) organised the seminar titled ‘Prospect of coal mining and underground coal gasification’. Energy expert and professor of Geology department at Dhaka University Dr. Badrul Imam presented a keynote.

“ We have drafted the policy outline, though policy is not essential for extracting coal. The underground coal gasification (UCG) will not do any better in solving this ongoing gas crunch. The UCG method is useful in the long-run extraction,” said Tawfiq-e-Elahi

The adviser said the government would take decision about UCG system after consulting the experts.

“We are considering extracting coal through open-cast method on the north of Barapukuria” he told the meet.

The energy adviser urged the industry owners to help tackle the power crisis during Ramadan by keeping their industries closed during peak hours like previous year.

Professor Dr. Badrul Islam, in his keynote, said the UCG method is broadly used for extracting coal worldwide, including in neighboring India. This method is suitable for mines with deeper depths, he added.

Earlier on July 6 this year, the government finalized the much-talked-about Coal Policy that was deemed to be in favour of the multinationals vying for a stake in the huge reserves of fossil fuel in the country’s northern mines. It, however, did not specify controversial issue of how the coal will be extracted—either using open-cast or underground method of mining.

There have been debates over the mining methods, as local stakeholders stood to open-cast mining with violent protests that led to loss of lives.         

At present there are five coalmines in the country, four of them having 1168 million tonnes of recoverable coal in Barapukuria, Khalaspir, Fulbari and Dighipar sites. The fifth one is in Jamalganj where the reserve could not be measured for the depth.

BDST: 1834 HRS. JULY 25, 2010