Padma Water Treatment Plant to go into operation by Dec 2018

The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) is going to operate its dream project the Padma (Jashaldia) Water Treatment Plant by December 2018.
 The plant located at Jashaldia under Lauhajang Upazila of Munshiganj has the capacity of supplying 45 crore litres of water a day.
"Once the project goes into operation it will begin to improve the water supply to the southern and eastern parts of Dhaka," said engineer and project Managing Director Taqsem A Khan at a press briefing on Thursday.
Already 40 per cent of the work of the project has been completed and the rest is expected to be done within the deadline, Taqsem A Khan said.
Water from the Padma River will get treated at the plant and then pass through 33-km-long pipeline to the distribution lines near Mitford Hospital before it is supplied to the Dhaka city.
The cost of the project is Tk3375.17 crore in which the WASA is contributing Tk22 crore and the government Tk1073.15 crore.
The Exim Bank of China is providing around Tk2, 280.02 crore as a soft loan to implement the said project.
This is the first time China is financing a treatment plant in Bangladesh. CAMC Engineer Com Ltd of China is responsible to implement the project.
Taqsem Khan said after successful completion of the project the ratio of surface and underground water supply will be 45:55 instead of the present 22: 78 percent.
The areas to be covered by the plant are the entire old Dhaka, Mohammadpur, part of Dhanmondi and Kawran Bazar.
As part of moving towards the environment-friendly, sustainable and pro- people water supply system, this project is being implemented by the government, he said.
Talking to the Daily Observer, Taqsem A Khan said the WASA has undertaken enough preparation to supply adequate water to the city people during the period of the holy Ramadan.
"The city people will not face any trouble due to the lack of water during Ramadan," he said.
Addressing the press conference, Boris Zhang Zhaoyang, Project Manager of the Padma (Jashaldia) Water Treatment Plant, said modern technologies are being used to implement the project.
China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd has lot of experiences to implement such kind of projects around the globe.
He expected that the project will be able to serve the people of Dhaka through supplying drinking water.
Commercial Manager Uttam Kumar Roy, Additional Chief Engineer Md Akhtaruzzaman and Project Director Md Rafiqul Islam were present at the press conference.  
A good number of journalists both from print and electronic media visited the project site and saw the progress of the work.