Ecnec approves excavating city's five canals

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved 10 projects, reports UNB.

The projects include one to excavate and re-excavate five canals in the capital to resolve the waterlogging problem.

The approval came from an Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room in the city with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

"Today, a total of 10 projects were approved at an estimated cost of Tk 34.15 billion. Of the total cost, Tk 34.00 billion will come from the government fund while the rest, Tk 149.3 million, from the organisations' own fund," said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while briefing reporters after the meeting.

Of the approved 10 projects, nine are new while one is revised one.

The project titled 'Land acquisition, excavation and re-excavation of Hazaribagh, Baishteki, Kurmitola, Manda and Begunbari Canals' will be implemented from December 2018 to December 2019, the minister said.

Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) will implement the project at an estimated cost of Tk 6.07 billion. The entire project cost will be met from the state coffer, he said.