World Bank Approves $370M to Combat Dhaka's Severe Water Pollution Crisis

The Metro Dhaka Water Security and Resilience Program will strengthen local and national institutions' capacity to reduce water pollution in the greater Dhaka area, which generates about half of the country's formal employment and one-third of its GDP. The program introduces a results-based system to help city corporations and Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) deliver measurable improvements on the ground. It will provide safely managed sanitation services to 550,000 people and improved solid waste management services to 500,000 people, prioritizing communities most affected by pollution and service gaps.

"Waterbodies are the lifeline for millions of people in greater Dhaka. But rapid, unplanned urbanization and industrial growth have outpaced the city's capacity to manage wastewater and pollution, impacting public health, environment, and the economy," said Jean Pesme, World Bank Division Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. "This program will help build the institutional foundations needed to reduce pollution and restore the health of Dhaka's rivers and canals over time."

Dhaka faces severe wastewater and water pollution challenges. Only about 20 percent of residents have piped sewer system connections, and another 2 percent use functional fecal sludge management. Over 80 percent of the untreated wastewater and sewage is discharged into Dhaka's interconnected waterways. More than half of Dhaka's canals have disappeared or are clogged, worsening pollution. To address these challenges, the operation takes a holistic approach involving public and private sector as well as the city corporations. It will help improve service delivery, strengthen the regulatory framework, and revive the rivers and canals around Dhaka by reducing pollution and restoring the flow capacity.

Industrial pollution is also acute: about 80% of the export-oriented garments factories are in Dhaka and more than 7,000 factories release an estimated 2,400 million liters of untreated wastewater into waterways daily creating skin, diarrheal diseases and neurological conditions. The program will mobilize private sector participation, especially industries in and around Dhaka to deploy their expertise and capital to scale-up industrial effluent treatment and water reuse to optimize water efficiency and reduce pollution.

"The program is part of a multi-phase, long-term engagement supporting Bangladesh's broader water security and resilience agenda," said Harsh Goyal, World Bank Senior Water Supply and Sanitation Specialist and Task Team Leader of the project. "This phase will prioritize reducing pollution discharge into Dhaka's water bodies, strengthening institutional and regulatory monitoring systems including a comprehensive water quality index for Dhaka's rivers, establishing digital real-time pollution monitoring, and developing integrated river restoration plans for four major Dhaka Rivers."

The program will cover the selected areas in Dhaka and Narayanganj in the first phase. It will help improve primary waste collection coverage, prioritizing underserved communities near major canals and rivers, and upgrade recycling systems. It will also undertake community-led awareness campaigns and pollution-control enforcement to stop solid waste dumping, direct sewage discharge into drainage network, and industrial effluent discharge into rivers and canals.

The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh and has committed over $46 billion in grants, interest-free, and concessional credits to the country since its Independence, and have ongoing commitment of over $12 billion in 43 projects.

- ANI