The government will procure 20 dredgers and necessary equipment at the cost of Tk2,048 crore to enable BIWTA for dredging 232.50 lakh cubic meter annually.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved a project in this regard at its 3rd meeting in the current fiscal held at NEC conference room in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports BSS.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) under the Shipping Ministry will implement the project by December 2019.
The procurement of the dredgers and equipment is in response to the "Feasibility Study of Capital Dredging and Sustainable River Management in Bangladesh (FSCD & SRMB),
The study suggested for collecting some 216 cutter suction dredgers for dredging some 23 big and medium rivers.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said under the procurement of dredger project, some 10 dredgers would be collected in the first two years while the remaining 10 dredgers in the last two years of the project period.
The BIWTA has 18 dredgers now and three more dredgers would be procured by end of this year increasing the number to 21 dredgers and annual dredging capacity of the organization would stand at 110 lakh cubic meters.
But, the country requires some 882.53 lakh cubic meter dredging every year to maintain river navigability.
