Dhaka WASA (DWASA) has planned to supply 70 per cent of total water from the surface instead of the current 22 per cent with US$675 million investment by 2021 reducing dependency on groundwater, officials said.
With the financial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and two other European lenders, the capital's water supply authority has undertaken the Dhaka Environmentally Sustainable Water Supply Project to this effect, said DWASA Managing Director Taqsem A Khan Saturday.
Dhaka has been drawing groundwater heavily but the current rate of extraction is no longer sustainable with the water table falling by 2-3 metres a year. In addition, the Sitalakhya River - the city's main source of surface water - is becoming increasingly polluted.
Officials from the DWASA and the ADB met with international and local prospective bidders Saturday to discuss plans for the project aimed at developing a surface water supply system for the fast-growing capital city, where groundwater is depleting rapidly, the ADB said in a statement.
It said nearly 50 representatives from 25 firms, who participated in the tendering, attended the event.
ADB said the participants were informed about the largest bid package under the project that entails design, build, and operation of the water intake, raw water transmission pipeline, and the water treatment plant. The bidding process is expected to start next month (April).
Under the project, the ADB will bankroll a treatment plant capable of handling 500 million litres of water a day at Gandharbpur in Munshiganj, and install raw and treated water transmission pipelines from the Meghna River.
These initiatives are expected to reduce groundwater extraction by 150 million litres a day and help the DWASA raise its overall surface water supply to 1.9 billion litres a day by 2021.
The project will help expand the coverage and quality of water supply to nearly 11 million people in Dhaka by developing a new raw water intake at the Meghna River, about 22 kilometres east of the city, with a pumping station that has the capacity to provide 2.0 billion litres of water a day, sources said.
DWASA will invest US$675 million worth of funds. On top of its loan, the ADB would provide $250 million, French lender ADF $100 million and the European Investment Bank (EIB) $100 million. The government of Bangladesh will provide $225 million worth of funds.
In the capital city, most of the people living in informal settlements rely on supply from illegal water lines for which they pay high charges.
The project will set up community-based organisations to help poor households obtain water through legal metered connections at a lower price.
The groups will be responsible for paying water bills and maintaining supply points while public awareness programmes will improve community knowledge on water quality and public hygiene, WASA officials said.
