Background

A rapid increase in the pace of rural-urban migration has been very explicit in the recent decades in Bangladesh. The very process of urbanization, coupled with pressure from fast-rising urban population, have been exposing the city authorities of the country to a growing demand for raising the quality and quantum of urban-specific services. Now challenges to the towns/cities are multifaceted. In the face of increased complexity and competitiveness and consequently, they are required to be striking to business to generate income and employment opportunities, provide a good livelihood for the city dwellers and generate adequate resources to finance infrastructure and social needs inclusive of being responsive to address urban poverty aspects.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Area (DMA), the capital of Bangladesh, has almost one thirds of its total urban population, and the responsibility of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Dhaka WASA) is to supply potable water to the city dwellers but Dhaka WASA is facing difficulties in maintaining adequate level of water supply mainly due to

• Rapidly growing demand
• Age-old water distribution network
• Leakages in the system network
• Poor raw water quality
• Inadequate network to cope with the future demand
• Network of small dia. pipes designed for the present and totally inadequate for conveying water from expanded water sources, especially large future Surface Water Treatment Plants (SWTPs).

To address these issue Govt. of Bangladesh (GoB) requested ADB to assist DWASA. In response to the request made by GoB, ADB has sanctioned a loan amounting US$200 million for Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program, where US$ 50 million for program loan and US$ 150 million for project loan of DWSSDP.