Dec 29, Colombo: More than one thousand residents led by religious leaders of all major faiths gathered today in Sri Lanka's northwestern Puttalam town and held a march and meeting to protest the construction of a coal power plant at Norochcholai.

The protestors said the use of coal power would cause acid rain and environmental degradation. The religious leaders signed a petition to be sent to the President of Sri Lanka requesting a stop to the construction of the coal power plant.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to construct the country's first coal power plant in Norochcholai as a joint venture with a Chinese company. US$ 450 million is to be invested in the 300 MW power plant.

While the protest against the Norochcholai power plant was going on in Puttalam, the government signed an agreement with India today to set up a second 500 MW coal power plant in Sampur, recently captured from the LTTE. City Bank Card, Chase low rate loan, American Express