The Asian Development Bank has approved US$ 250 million assistance for a Dhaka WASA project to bring 50 crore litres of water per day from River Meghna 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 water from Meghna.
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, European Investment Bank 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 Mahmudul Islam told the news agency.
Dhaka WASA is gradually going to reduce dependency on groundwater extraction to make its service earth-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 per cent of its total capacity from the surface water sources by 2020.
-With New Age input
