The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved US$ 250 million
assistance to a project of Dhaka WASA to bring 50 crore litres of
water per day from Meghna River to reduce its dependency on
groundwater. ADB, which is the lead financier of the project, at its
board meeting held recently at its Manila headquarters approved the
project assistance, official sources said. Dhaka WASA has taken the
US$ 675 million project titled, ‘Environmentally Sustainable Water
Supply Project’ to bring 50 crore litres of water per day from Meghna
River. The water will be supplied to the capital after treating at
the Gandharbpur Treatment Plant in Narayanganj. Earlier, the project
was approved at the ECNEC meeting last month. French Development
Corporation (AFD), European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Bangladesh
government will jointly finance the project, which is expected to be
implemented by December 2019. The ADB as the lead financier will
provide US$ 250 million for the project while the two co-financiers
AFD and EIB will provide US$ 100 million each. The remaining US$ 225
million will be funded by Bangladesh government, project director Engr
Mahmudul Islam told UNB. Dhaka WASA is gradually going to reduce
dependency on surface water sources instead of groundwater extraction
to make its service environment- friendly. Dhaka WASA is currently
producing 242 crore litres of water per day against the demand of 225
crore litres. For the first time in its history, it is now able to
produce surplus water in the capital. The Environmentally
Sustainable Water Supply Project will contribute greatly to water
supply activities of Dhaka WASA which has a plan to produce 70 percent
of its total capacity from the surface water sources by 2020.. – UNB
