Land acquisitions The Dhaka Tribune reported in 2019 that 1,743 families have already been displaced for the construction of the Payra Port. As of February 2019, only part of the compensation sum that they were promised has been paid to the displaced families. Farmlands are also being acquired for the construction of the coal power plants, threathening the livelihoods of local people who cannot continue their crop production.

Fishing livelihoods The Payra Port Coal Terminal under construction is located near the cross section of the Andharmanik River and Golachipa River. The first river is one of the river spots declared as an Ilish sanctuary, and the Golachipa river is the migration route for these fish. Only 10 kilometers upstream from the power plant side another Ilish sanctuary is located, the Tentulia River. The location of the coal power plant is therefore detrimental to the life of the Ilish, one of the most sensitive aquatic species in the world. Around half a million fishermen are dependent upon Ilish production for their livelihoods.

Health impact Once completed, the power plants will emit 600-800 kg of mercury per year into the surrounding area. It is estimated that one third of this will be deposited onto the land and fresh water systems in Bangladesh, which will ultimately increase the mercury concentration in the food. The mercury pollution alone will reach an area with 500,000-1,500,000 inhabitants.

The cumulative health impacts over 30 years of operation will lead to 35,000 deaths, 60,000 asthma emergency room visits (of which 25,000 children), 26 million sick leave days, 39,000 preterm births, and 17,000 strokes.

Climate change The government of Bangladesh has set the goal to become a developed country by 2041. Part of that goal includes almost quadrupling the country's net electricity generation capacity by that time. Under these plans, the share of installed power capacity from coal, currently about 3 percent, will expand to 32 percent by 2041. Since Bangladesh has limited coal supplies of its own, most of the coal needs to be imported from other countries, including Australia, India, Indonesia and South Africa.

The coal terminal at Payra Port will open the floodgates for coal pollution the likes of which Bangladesh has never seen before. Currently Bangladesh imports about 1.5 million metric tons of coal per year. At peak operation, Payra Port would import 20 million metric tons of coal each year, to feed eight proposed and under-construction coal power stations with a total capacity of 10 gigawatts, making it the largest coal power cluster in South Asia and the second largest in the world. Over their lifetimes, these plants would collectively emit more than three times as much carbon dioxide as the whole of the UK did in 2018.