Chattogram Water Provide and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) has initiated a Tk5,152.56 crore mission to place a centralised sewerage system for the Kalurghat and Bakalia zones in the port metropolis.
Below the “Chattogram Sewerage Machine Style Project (Catchment-2 & 4),” residents of those zones will value procure admission to to improved sewage services and products.
This marks the metropolis’s 2nd significant sewerage mission following the formulation of a master thought for a centralised sewerage system in 2017, which divided the metropolis into six zones.
The mission, approved at some level of a recent Govt Committee of the National Financial Council (Ecnec) meeting chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, is expected to attend 4 lakh of us by 2035 and 18 lakh by 2070.
The mission entails constructing a remedy plant in the Hamidchar home of Kalurghat with a everyday ability of 60,000 cubic metres.
It moreover involves the set up of 11 kilometres of significant sewer lines, 70 kilometres each of department and provider lines, 932 manholes, and 14,000 home connections and rating pits.
The funding contains Tk4,144 crore in loans from the Japan Worldwide Cooperation Agency (Jica), Tk581.56 crore in authorities loans to Chattogram Wasa, Tk387.71 crore in authorities grants, and Tk39 crore from Wasa’s comprise funds.
Land acquisition
Moreover, a supporting mission titled “Land Acquisition for Building of Sewage Medication Plant in Kalurghat Space of Chattogram City” is being implemented.
This entails acquiring 78 acres of land at a cost of Tk2,154 crore, funded through a Tk1,292 crore authorities loan and a Tk862 crore grant.
As half of this mission, water our bodies and low-lying land will be raised by three metres. The mission has handed preliminary critiques and is awaiting remaining Ecnec approval.
Nurul Amin, Project Director of Chattogram Wasa, mentioned, “The mission length is from January 2025 to December 2032. The pricetag, drawing, and tendering processes will be carried out in the first three years, and complete-scale building will launch in the fourth year.”
Recent challenges and mission delays
In 2017, Chattogram Wasa launched a sewerage master thought dividing the metropolis into six catchments.
The first sewerage mission, retaining Catchment-1 in Halishahar, has confronted major delays since its approval in 2018. Estimated at Tk3,808 crore, the mission’s value has risen to Tk4,408 crore, pending remaining approval.
This mission involves a remedy plant with a ability of 10 crore litres of kill per day, a faecal sludge remedy facility, and 200 kilometres of sewer lines. It aims to relieve 20 lakh of us at some level of 36 sq. kilometres in 22 metropolis wards.
Despite an preliminary completion purpose of 2023, handiest 51% of the work has been carried out over six years, requiring two extensions.
For the time being, Chattogram produces 400 million litres of untreated sewage everyday, mighty of which flows into the Karnaphuli and Halda rivers, eventually polluting the Bay of Bengal.
Moreover, the restricted ability for faecal sludge administration exacerbates the wretchedness, with handiest 35 cubic metres of the everyday 539 cubic metres handled by native authorities and NGOs. The comfort is discharged into water our bodies, posing environmental and health dangers.
Makshud Alam, Chief Engineer of Chattogram Wasa, infamous, “To keep the Karnaphuli and Halda rivers, the metropolis’s significant sources of drinking water, bringing all areas below sewerage administration is imperative.”
Future projects in the pipeline
Chattogram Wasa has plans for three additional catchments below its six-home sewerage master thought. These projects purpose to join the metropolis’s 89 lakh residents to a comprehensive sewerage system.
The Fatehabad catchment (STP-3) mission, estimated at Tk3,360 crore, has carried out its feasibility gaze with funding from the South Korea Style Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
This mission will relieve 30 lakh of us in Chattogram and Hathazari upazila, treating 60 million litres of kill everyday.
The North Kattli catchment (STP-5) mission, estimated at Tk2,835 crore, is being studied by the French Style Agency (AFD). This would most certainly treat 50 million litres of kill everyday for 8.5 lakh of us.
A Third mission for the Patenga catchment (STP-6) is proposed below a Public-Non-public Partnership (PPP) with Marubeni Company, at an estimated value of Tk9,897 crore.
This initiative will relieve 11.5 lakh of us, treating 5 million litres of kill everyday. These projects are at the moment below evaluate by the Planning Fee and different authorities committees.
The recent sewerage initiatives replicate Chattogram Wasa’s efforts to modernise the metropolis’s sanitation infrastructure and mitigate environmental hazards.
On the opposite hand, challenges reminiscent of value escalations and mission delays underscore the necessity for streamlined implementation to lift out effectively timed progress.