Senior Reporter: ECNEC has approved the first amendment of the ongoing ‘Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant (Phase-3)’ project to increase the cost of the project by increasing it by about TK 3,000 crore.
At the same time, the duration of the project has been extended for another five years. The cost of the project, which was approved in July 2010 at a cost of TK 4,598 crore, has been increased to TK 2,921 crore or about 63 percent and revised to TK 8,517 crore.
Earlier, Dhaka WASA had set a target of completing the project by 2020.
A meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at the NEC conference room in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Tuesday approved amendments to the project, Planning Minister MA Mannan said.
He said, “Through the project, water from Meghna river is being purified and supplied to Dhaka. But due to the ongoing industrial activities on the banks of the Meghna River and the pollution of the river water, the cost of various parts of the project is increasing.
Donors Danida, AFD, KFW, and EIB are jointly providing TK 3,053 crore for the project. He said the companies would pay TK 4,082 crore, an increase of about TK 1,609 crore due to the amendment.
The minister said the project of constructing a 450 MLD capacity surface water treatment plant is being implemented to reduce the dependence on groundwater abstraction.
“Through this, sludge treatment plants of existing plants-1, 2, and proposed 3 plants will be set up in Sayedabad to supply water to the capital. The project will also set up a distribution line to supply purified water from the Sayedabad treatment plant to the southeast of Dhaka city. ”
MA Mannan said the meeting also approved nine development projects costing around TK 8,551 crore.
Of this, TK 3,642 crore will be provided from the government’s own funds, TK 26 crore will be provided by the organization and TK 2,062 crore will be provided as foreign loans.
Other approved projects are
>> Tangail-Delduar-Lauhati-Saturia-Kawalipara-Kalampur Bus Stand Road Upgradation project to appropriate standard and width of regional highway. The cost will be about a thousand 438 crores.
>> Agro Meteorological Information System Improvement (1st Amendment) Project. Expenditure is increasing by Tk 91 crore.
>> Establishment of two Agricultural Training Institutes (ATIs) in Jagannathpur and Mohanganj Upazilas. Expenditure has been estimated at Tk 358 crore.
>> Establishment of Kushtia Medical College and Hospital (2nd Amendment), Kushtia Project. Expenditure is increasing by Tk 81.36 crore.
>> River bank conservation, small river, canal-beel re-excavation, and waterlogging elimination project in Pirganj Upazila of Rangpur district. Expenditure has been estimated at Tk 165.59 crore.
>> Right and left bank protection project of Kirtinasha river in Shariatpur district. It will cost 319 crore rupees.
>> Barapukuria-Bogra-Kaliakair 400 KV Line (1st Amendment) Project. Expenditure is increasing by about Tk 630 crore.
>> Construction of Railway from Khulna to Mongla Port (2nd Amendment) Project. Expenditure is increasing by Tk 459 crore.
