The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $370 million in financing to improve sanitation and solid waste management services, reduce water pollution, and restore rivers and canals in Dhaka and surrounding areas, reports BSS.
The Metro Dhaka Water Security and Resilience Program aims to strengthen both local and national institutions’ capacity to manage water pollution in the greater Dhaka region, which generates about half of Bangladesh’s formal employment and one-third of its GDP.
The program will implement a results-based system to help city corporations and the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) deliver measurable improvements on the ground. It is expected to provide safely managed sanitation services to 550,000 people and improved solid waste management to 500,000 people, prioritizing communities most affected by pollution and service gaps, the World Bank said in a press release.
“Water bodies are the lifeline for millions of people in greater Dhaka. But rapid, unplanned urbanization and industrial growth have outpaced the city's capacity to manage wastewater and pollution, impacting public health, the environment, and the economy,” said Jean Pesme, World Bank Division Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “This program will help build the institutional foundations needed to reduce pollution and restore the health of Dhaka’s rivers and canals over time.”
Dhaka faces severe water pollution challenges. Only about 20 percent of residents are connected to piped sewer systems, and just 2 percent have access to functional fecal sludge management. More than 80 percent of untreated wastewater and sewage is discharged into the city’s interconnected waterways. Over half of Dhaka’s canals have disappeared or become clogged, further worsening pollution.
The program takes a holistic approach, engaging both the public and private sectors, as well as city corporations. It will improve service delivery, strengthen regulatory frameworks, and revive rivers and canals by reducing pollution and restoring flow capacity.
Industrial pollution is a major concern: approximately 80 percent of export-oriented garment factories are located in Dhaka, and more than 7,000 factories release an estimated 2,400 million liters of untreated wastewater into waterways daily, contributing to skin, diarrheal, and neurological diseases. The program will encourage private sector participation to scale up industrial effluent treatment, promote water reuse, and optimize water efficiency.
“This program is part of a multi-phase, long-term engagement supporting Bangladesh’s broader water security and resilience agenda,” said Harsh Goyal, World Bank Senior Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist and Task Team Leader of the project. “This phase will focus on reducing pollution discharge into Dhaka’s water bodies, strengthening institutional and regulatory monitoring systems, establishing a comprehensive water quality index for rivers, deploying digital real-time pollution monitoring, and developing integrated river restoration plans for four major Dhaka rivers.”
The first phase will cover selected areas in Dhaka and Narayanganj. It aims to improve primary waste collection coverage, particularly in underserved communities near major canals and rivers, and upgrade recycling systems. Community-led awareness campaigns and enforcement measures will target solid waste dumping, direct sewage discharge, and industrial effluent release.
The World Bank has been a long-term development partner of Bangladesh, providing over $46 billion in grants, interest-free, and concessional credits since the country’s independence, with a current commitment of more than $12 billion across 43 ongoing projects.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
