Chittagong WASA has finally undertaken its most profitable water supply project targeting thriving industrial zones, existing industrial plants and proposed economic zones in the south of the Karnaphuli River outside the city.
The southern region across the river is expected to see huge investment from China, Japan, Korea and other countries after completion of the ongoing tunnel work under the river.
Aimed at supplying water to industrial plants in new zone, CWASA is constructing Bhandaljuri Water Supply Project on the left bank of the river at Boalkhali upazila of the district at a cost of Tk 10.363 billion.
The project, if completed by September 2020 as scheduled, will produce 60 million litres of water per day (MLD) and WASA will earn a lot of profit from the project as most of the consumers will be commercial ones.
Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEDCF) will give Tk 7.5466 billion in loan while the government of Bangladesh will provide Tk 2.6164 billion and CWASA Tk 200 million.
The project will be implemented through water treatment from the Karnaphuli River. It was approved at an ECNEC meeting on January 05, 2016, but delayed due to incompletion of the land acquisition process.
Project Director Mabub Alam said five acres of land have been handed over to the contractor while another 41 acres of land will be handed over to them before next June.
The money for the land under acquisition has already been transferred to the district administration. It will complete the acquisition process by paying land price to owners.
The technical and financial evaluation of the bidders has already been finalised. Now it awaits approval of the Korean financer, sources said, adding that the work will start in early June.
Commercial Manager of CWASA Pijush Datta told the FE that about 90 per cent of existing water supply connections of CWASA (Water Supply and Sewerage Authority) are residential while less than 10 per cent of the connections are commercial.
CWASA sources said they are supplying water at a subsidised rate currently as most of the connections are residential. To take CWASA to a minimum profit-level, the authority has undertaken a water supply project on which they will earn profit from commercial and industrial consumers.
CWASA has currently 72,000 water supply connections. The rate of water sale for residential consumers is Tk 9.45 per cubic metre. The rate for commercial consumers is Tk 26.25 per cubic metre, Mr Pijush said.
He further said the authority has slightly enhanced the price of water from January 2019. The rate will now be Tk 9.92 per cubic metre for residential and Tk 27.56 per cubic metre for commercial consumers.
The consumers are yet to get the bill at an enhanced rate as the bill for January will be sent to them this month and they will pay it in March.
The water sale rate here is still much lower than the rate in other major cities in South Asia. CWASA sources said the current water sale rate is Tk 25 per cubic metre in Delhi, Tk 20 in Hyderabad, Tk 22 in Lahore and Tk 26 per cubic metre in Bangkok.
