Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the South Asia's largest single sewage treatment plant (STP) in the city's Khilgaon area tomorrow.

The plant will have a capacity of treating five million tonnes of sewage per day, which will save the rivers surrounding the capital from pollution.

"The prime minister will formally commission operation of the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant in Dhaka, first of its kind in the country on Thursday," said Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Managing Director Taqsem A Khan.

Briefing newsmen about the plant at its office site in Dhaka's Aftabnagar yesterday, he said the plant has the capacity of treating five million tonnes of sewage everyday, which is 20 to 25 percent of the total sewage in the capital.

The Dhaka Wasa chief said they will build four more sewage treatment plants, one each in Pagla, Uttara, Rayerbazar and Mirpur areas in accordance with a master plan to treat 100 percent sewage of Dhaka by 2030 -- 90 percent through pipeline coverage and remaining 10 percent collecting from houses.

The plant helps implementing SDG Goal-6 by ensuring better waste management system across the country by 2030, he said, adding that Hasina is the pioneer of bringing the country under a proper waste management system.

The Dasherkandi Treatment Plant, which falls within Khilgaon Police Station, is adjacent to Aftabnagar and will treat sewage of several areas of the capital, including Gulshan(part), Banani, Tejgaon, Niketon, Maghbazar, Malibagh, Aftabnagar, Badda, Kalabagan, Panthapath, Dhanmondi (part) and Hatirjheel.

The China-funded project was implemented on about 62.2 acres of land at the cost of Tk 3,482.42 crore. Of the cost, Tk 1,106.42 crore came from the GoB fund, while Tk 10 crore from Wasa fund and the remaining Tk 2,366 crore from the Export-Import Bank of China as project assistance.

The project has a sludge drying-burning system with a processing capacity of about 560 tons per day. The construction work started on August 1, 2017.

The project, designed and constructed by Chengdu Engineering Corporation under PowerChina, with one year of operations and maintenance, was handed over to WASA.

The Dasherkandi sewage treatment plant was constructed as part of the master plan taken up by WASA in 2013 to construct five treatment plants to prevent river pollution around Dhaka.

According to the project, a waste lifting station is being constructed on the west side of Rampura Bridge at Pragati Sarani, a five kilometer trunk sewer line from Rampura to Aftabnagar and Dasherkandi plant and the main treatment plant at Dasherkandi.