World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $370 million in financing to improve sanitation and solid waste management services in Dhaka and nearby areas, aiming to cut water pollution and restore rivers and canals.
The support will fund the Metro Dhaka Water Security and Resilience Program, which seeks to strengthen the capacity of local and national institutions to tackle water pollution in greater Dhaka.
The region accounts for about half of the country’s formal employment and nearly one-third of its GDP, said a press release on Wednesday.
The programme will introduce a result-based system to help city corporations and the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) deliver measurable improvements.
Under the project, 550,000 people will receive safely managed sanitation services, while 500,000 people will benefit from improved solid waste management. Priority will be given to communities most affected by pollution and service gaps.
“Waterbodies are the lifeline for millions of people in greater Dhaka. But rapid and unplanned urbanisation and industrial growth have outpaced the city's capacity to manage wastewater and pollution, affecting public health, the environment and the economy,” said Jean Pesme, World Bank Division Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
He said the programme would help build the institutional foundations needed to reduce pollution and gradually restore the health of Dhaka’s rivers and canals.
Dhaka faces serious wastewater and water pollution challenges and about 20 percent of residents are connected to a piped sewer system, while just 2 percent use functional fecal sludge management services, said the press relesae.
More than 80 percent of untreated wastewater and sewage is discharged into the city’s interconnected waterways.
Over half of Dhaka’s canals have either disappeared or become clogged, worsening pollution and reducing water flow.
To address these problems, the programme will take a comprehensive approach involving the public and private sectors, as well as city corporations. It will improve service delivery, strengthen regulations and help revive rivers and canals by reducing pollution and restoring flow capacity.
Industrial pollution remains a major concern. Around 80 percent of export-oriented garment factories are located in Dhaka, and more than 7,000 factories discharge an estimated 2,400 million litres of untreated wastewater into waterways each day. This contributes to skin diseases, diarrhoea and neurological conditions.
The programme will encourage private sector participation, particularly from industries in and around Dhaka, to scale up industrial effluent treatment and water reuse to improve water efficiency and reduce pollution.
“The programme is part of a multi-phase, long-term engagement supporting Bangladesh’s broader water security and resilience agenda,” said Harsh Goyal, World Bank Senior Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist and Task Team Leader of the project.
He said this phase would focus on reducing pollution discharge into Dhaka’s water bodies, strengthening monitoring and regulatory systems, introducing a comprehensive water quality index for Dhaka’s rivers, establishing digital real-time pollution monitoring and preparing integrated restoration plans for four major rivers around Dhaka.
In the first phase, the programme will cover selected areas in Dhaka and Narayanganj.
It will expand primary waste collection services, especially in underserved communities near major canals and rivers, and upgrade recycling systems.