Wasa takes 3 schemes to reduce Ctg water crisis

Chittagong Water and Sewerage Authority has decided to implement the Karnaphuli Water Supply Project to ease the acute water crisis in the port city.
In addition to it, it has taken up an initiative to revive Madunaghat and Mohora water supply projects.
The estimated capacity of Karnaphuli Water Supply Project is 136 million litres per day, and it is 45 and 90 million litres per day for the other two projects mentioned.
Chittagong Wasa has the capability to provide only 190 million litres of water per day against a demand of 500 million litres a day.
"We will add water to the tune of 271 million litres per day for supply with the implementation of these projects within the tenure of the present government," said Engineer AKM Fazlullah, chairman of Chittagong Wasa.
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Karnaphuli project involving Tk 962.9 crore in May 2006 after a feasibility study in 1998.
In accordance with the agreement signed by the government of Bangladesh and Japan Bank for International Cooperation on June 29, 2006, JBIC was to provide Tk 693.57 crore while the government Tk 269.32 crore.
However, the project could not go ahead due to the complication over acquisition of 31.5 acres of land for the plant.
Fazlullah told The Daily Star that they have given Tk 8 crore to the District Administration to acquire land in a month.
The Wasa will invite tender to appoint contractor within this year to get it completed by the middle of 2012, he said.
Due to legal tangles, the implementation of Mohora Water Supply Project of Tk 197.96 crore was delayed, he added.
The project got Ecnec approval in September 2003.
The cabinet purchase committee later rejected the work order due to irregularities in the tender process of the first lowest bidder.
It asked to go for bidding again, which prompted the second lowest bidder EPI- BFEW Consortium to file a case in this connection.
The High Court ordered awarding the contract to EPI-BFEW on February 28, 2008.
There being a huge gap between the first and second lowest quoted price, Wasa filed a writ petition.
Fazlullah said, "If the verdict favours us, the first lowest bidder will get the contract. Otherwise, the second one will get it."
Regarding the Tk 164.85 crore Madunaghat project, the chairman said, "We are looking forward to implementing it with the financial assistance of World Bank or other alternative sources."
Besides, Wasa submitted a proposal for installing 20 more deep tube-wells at the cost of Tk 27 crore under an emergency water supply project in June this year.