WB to give $600m for BD\\\'s river management project

The World Bank (WB) is expected to approve a $ 600-million fund for Bangladesh’s River Management Improvement Programme (Phase-1) aiming to benefit around 2.5 million people living along the country’s river banks. The World Bank and the government of Bangladesh completed negotiations for the $600 million River Management Improvement Program-Phase 1 on August 12 last, said an official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD). The official said the World Bank Board is likely to approve the fund by December next and the project aims to increase protection against river flooding and erosion and improve flood and erosion management capacity along selected sections of the Brahmaputra River. It will be phased into three projects and include structural and nonstructural interventions. The first phase of the programme would focus on improving flood and erosion control stretching from Sirajganj's Simla to Bogura's Hasnapara, and is exposed to high rates of erosion. In the second phase of the programme, there will be 17 kilometers of embankment reconstruction from Jamuna Bridge to Simla of Sirajganj and 70 kilometers of embankment reconstruction from Hasnapara of Bogra to Teesta outfall. In the third phase, there will be construction of 137 kilometers of four-lane roads along the inner part of the embankment, according to a news agency.
-SRS