Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $1m in grant technical assistance (TA) to promote sustainable use of surface water for Dhaka city.
The government of Japan is financing the TA through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. ADB will administer the fund, and provide technical support for project implementation, said ADB in a statement yesterday.
“Securing adequate amount and good quality surface water is vital for Dhaka’s development, as the groundwater table is falling rapidly,” says Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi.
“The assistance will strengthen the government’s capacity to monitor and maintain the water quality of Meghna River, which is identified as one of the major surface water sources for Dhaka.”
The TA will help strengthen the monitoring and reporting system in the relevant section of Meghna River where the water intake sites are proposed. It will also introduce pilot incentive or reward system for pollution control, and assist the government in identifying areas to be designated as ecologically critical area to restrict development activities.
The government officials and other stakeholders will be equipped with knowledge and skills to operationalise the monitoring and reporting system. Public awareness programmes under the TA are expected to raise appreciation of the need to maintain water quality of Meghna River, and encourage pollution-prevention activities by the public as well as industries.
The TA will be implemented from November 2015 to October 2017. The Department of Environment will be the executing agency, and DWASA will be the partner agency.
In another statement, ADB said it will provide $120m loan to help finance increased transmission capacity of a cross-border electricity link between India and Bangladesh.
To this end, Mohammad Mejbahuddin, Senior Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Kazuhiko Higuchi, Country Director, Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations at a ceremony at ERD.
“This assistance will support Bangladesh to better meet rapidly rising power demand,” says Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi.
“The interconnection project is part of efforts under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Programme to promote regional prosperity and improve economic opportunities through strengthened cross-border links in trade, power, road and rail networks.”
The SASEC Second Bangladesh-India Electrical Grid Interconnection Project will double the capacity of the existing 500 megawatts interconnection system which links the power grid of western Bangladesh at Bheramara and the grid of eastern India at Bahrampur. The two networks were first interconnected in 2013 under a previous project financed by ADB.
Bangladesh’s fast-growing economy has soaring energy needs, and demand is exceeding domestic natural gas supplies, resulting in an increasing dependence on oil and diesel-based plants. To meet its goal of providing electricity for all by 2021, the government is working to increase generating capacity and to source additional supply.
The initial linking of the two national grids helped India deliver over 2,000 gigawatt hours of electricity across the border in 2014.
The interconnection project is part of efforts under the SASEC Programme to promote regional prosperity and improve economic opportunities through strengthened cross-border links in trade, power, road and rail networks. Its members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Along with ADB’s loan assistance, Bangladesh will provide financing of $63.2m for the project, which is expected to be completed in June 2018.