CHATTOGRAM, Mar 24: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the land acquisition for constructing sewerage treatment plants at Kalurghat and Bakalia in Chattogram Metropolitan, with an estimated cost of approximately Taka 2,154.99 crore.
The approval was given during an ECNEC meeting held at the NEC Conference Room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, on Sunday, chaired by ECNEC Chairperson and Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.
The Catchment-2 plant at Kalurghat and Catchment-4 plant at Bakalia are being developed as part of Chattogram WASA's sewerage project. Under Catchment-2, a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) will be constructed on 74 acres of land in Kalurghat with a storage capacity of 60,000 cubic metres of water. The project includes an 11 km main sewer line and a 70 km subsidiary sewerage line, benefiting 28,000 households.
On 27 November last year, ECNEC approved the 'Chattogram Sewerage System Development (Catchment-2 and 4)' project, with an estimated total cost of Taka 5,152 crore. Of this, Taka 4,144 crore will be provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Taka 969 crore by the Bangladesh government, and Taka 39 crore by Chattogram WASA.
Superintending Engineer and Project Director Ariful Islam stated that the overall sewerage treatment project has been divided into six zones, each with its own treatment plant: Catchments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Chattogram WASA has also appointed a transaction adviser for Catchment-6. In August 2023, Chattogram WASA signed an agreement with a joint venture of GTCBL-IQT-Innovest-BETSJV (Bangladesh-Italy-India). The adviser is conducting a feasibility study for the project, which will be implemented under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and G-to-G systems.
The Catchment-6 plant, to be developed by Marubeni Corporation of Japan, involves an investment of around $325 million (approximately Taka 3,510 crore). It is expected to benefit over 5 lakh residents of Patenga. The project is scheduled to be implemented over four years, from January next year to December 2028.
