DWASA will need Tk 108.5b within next ten years

Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) will need an investment of around Tk 108.50 billion within next 10 years for rehabilitation, expansion and strengthening of the water supply system in Dhaka city through surface water treatment, a top WASA official said Thursday. As the Managing Director of DWASA, Taqsem A Khan, presented this figure, a minister, officials and experts were of the view that the government alone would not be able to ensure the sum of money for improvement of Dhaka's water services to the city dwellers. At a discussion titled 'Surface Water: Future of Dhaka WASA', they suggested public-private partnership for better management of water in the fastest growing city of over 15 million people. Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad who attended the discussion admitted the fact that it would be difficult for the government to arrange the money for the project. Besides going for public-private partnership, the minister also suggested revision of the present water tariff structure. "Renovation work is also necessary to make WASA viable and functional, otherwise this organisation will not be able to fulfil the people's expectation," said the minister. He said the ground level is sliding 2 to 3 metres every year due to heavy extraction of water. Without having skilled and technically competent persons WASA will not be able to provide expected service as city dwellers face severe water crisis in every dry season, said Abul Kalam Azad. Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury said tariff raise may be accepted both politically and publicly if there is a long-term plan and public-private partnership (PPP) may be introduced in collecting the fund to implement various WASA projects for improved services although it will be difficult. He suggested that the WASA prepare a network diagram for facing challenge during the time of disaster, especially in case of earthquake jolts. Mr Reza termed the present water tariff a lower one among many countries and feared that such a low tariff would not be sustainable for a long time. He recommended differentiated water tariff for different sections of income groups. Economist Wahiduddin Mahmud said, corruption in water management should be reduced so that this organisation becomes able to come out from the systems loss. 'Mismanagement and corruption should be abolished from this organisation so that it can be reliable to the people. A long-term planning of 10 to 15 years needs to be introduced for making this organisation effective.' Rain water harvesting could be an effective source, he added. Secretary of Local Government Ministry Abu Alam Md Shahid Khan said, "widespread corruption is assumed when we hear that a meter reader became a millionaire". Smooth water management should be ensured to make this organisation viable, he added. Managing Director of DWASA Taqsem A Khan presented the keynote paper in the discussion. The programme was chaired by Engineer Golam Mostafa while Dutch Ambassador Heme Muller, Engr Motalab of WB and Dr Khairul Islam of WaterAid also spoke on the occasion.