Sewerage project brings hope back to 36 villages
Dhaka WASA is making a deal with Japan for installing a sewerage line to divert industrial wastes from Tejgaon to Pagla
Sultana Rahman
About half a million people and thousands of acres of land of 36 villages in the city's periphery would be relieved of extreme pollution as Dhaka WASA is about to sign a deal with Japan for funds to divert industrial wastes from Tejgaon to Pagla, sources said. For years, huge volumes of extremely toxic wastes from the Tejgaon industrial area have polluted agricultural lands and the rivers Devdholai at Trimohoni, Balu and Sitalakhya through Dhaka WASA's Begunbari khal. For years inhabitants of Lionhati, Nasirabad, Dasherkandi and other 33 villages have witnessed silently how their rivers, canals and agricultural lands were polluted due to the indiscriminate dumping of industrial wastes. Japan has agreed in principal to provide the required fund of about Tk 200 crore, half of it in grant and the rest in Debt Relief Grant (DRG) to build a sewerage line that would divert the wastes to Pagla treatment plant. The project for improvement of sewerage system in Dhaka city phase-1 will cover nearly ten kilometers from Tejgoan to Pagla. On Tuesday, in a meeting the representatives of Japan and Bangladesh signed an MOU. The Economic Relations Department (ERD) of the Finance Ministry is negotiating with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to obtain the funds. Sources said JAICA representatives emphasised on installing the sewerage trunk line on an emergency basis. Due to absence of sewerage network in the city, the WASA is unable to drain enough wastes to the Pagla Sewerage Treatment Plant (PSTP). Sources said due to lack of proper sewerage network the PSTP is only receiving 45 percent of wastes, which it is capable of recycling. The project will bring hope to a wide range of professional communities in the area along the polluted rivers. The water of the rivers has become so thick with the wastes that it is now totally devoid of any aquatic life. Only few years ago the lands along these rivers were 'very fertile'. Fishermen communities have long become extinct from the villages. Thousands of farmers who used the river water for irrigation are now faced with unemployment. Thousands of men, women and children have been urging the WASA to do something for diverting the WASA sewerage lines from the rivers. The Japan-WASA initiative would definitely bring back smiles of the population the areas.
| 
