The government has launched the second phase of the Karnaphuli Water Supply Project to provide safe water to the inhabitants of Chittagong, officials said.
“Chittagong WASA has undertaken the project to ensure uninterrupted supply of purified water from the Karnaphuli River,” Planning Division Secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam told BSS.
The project involves the set up of a water treatment plant in the port city with a 143 million litre per day (MLD) capacity, as well as the installation of a supply and distribution pipeline.
Chittagong WASA is entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the project in the city and Rangunia areas by January 2022. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has already approved the project which will cost Tk44.91bn.
Of the total project cost, the government will assign 8.44bn from the National Exchequer, Chittagong WASA will provide Tk230m from its own sources and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will provide Tk36.23bn of project assistance.
Officials said the government has taken up the project in line with the Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP), as the development document has planned to ensure safer water supply for people and reduce diarrhoeal and other waterborne diseases by 2015.
The main activities of the project consist of setting up a water treatment plant, constructing one water intake plant, installing 38 kilometres of transmission pipeline and 505 kilometres of distribution pipeline.
At present, Chittagong WASA is implementing the first phase of Karnaphuli Water Supply Project, which will provide 143 MLD of safe water after its completion out of the city’s total demand of 409 MLD. Chittagong WASA is presently able to supply 219 MLD of safe water.
The demand for safe water in Chittagong, the second largest city in the country, is increasing gradually due to the expansion of industrialisation and commercial activities.
