South Asia’s largest STP in Dasherkandi to operate from June
The China funded project will create 1000 jobs and has the capacity to process sewage for nearly 5 million peopledaily in Dhaka
Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, the largest in South Asia, is scheduled to begin operation from June as the China-funded project nears completion in the capital's Khilgaon near Aftabnagar.
The China-funded project, which will create some 1000 jobs, has the capacity to process sewage for nearly 5 million people in Dhaka daily.
The project, designed and constructed by Chengdu Engineering Corporation under PowerChina, with one year of operations and maintenance, was handed over to WASA on Thursday.
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WASA officials said the plant will be connected to the main line by June.
The project is a significant part of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which started construction on August 1, 2017.
The Dasherkandi Treatment Plant, which falls within Khilgaon Police Station, is adjacent to Aftabnagar and will treat sewage in several areas of the capital,including Gulshan, Banani, DOHS, Aftabnagar, Badda, Magbazar, Niketan, Kalabagan, Dhanmondi (part) and Hatirjheel.
According to the WASA authorities, the project, built on about 24 hectares of land, has a sludge drying-burning system with a processing capacity of about 560 tons per day.
In order to change the sewage situation in Dhaka, WASA prepared a master plan for a drainage systemin Dhaka metropolis in 2013. As per plan,Dhaka WASA decided to build five treatment plants to prevent river pollution around Dhaka.
The construction of the Sewage Treatment Plant started as part of the master plan taken up in 2013. The project, which was approved in 2015, was supposed to start in July of that year and be completed in December 2019. The initial cost of the project was Tk3,317 crore.
The duration of the project was extended till June 2022 as work on it was not completed on time, which increased the cost to Tk3,713 crore.
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.
Export-Import Bank of China is financing the project andthe work is being implemented by the Chinese company Hydro China Corporation.
According to WASA sources, at present about three and a half thousand litres of sewage are generated in Dhaka every day. There are 881 kilometers of sewer line in Dhaka and other than that there is no sewerage system in place in any other area of Dhaka.
AKM Shahid Uddin, director (technical) DWASA, told The Business Standard that each area will be connected to the plant in stages.
The Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant is set to be the first and largest modern sewage treatment plant in Bangladesh as well as the the largest single sewage treatment plant in South Asia, and the first modern sludge drying-incineration in Bangladesh.
Hao Yuanlin, general manager of Chengdu Engineering Corporation, told Global Times that there are not many projects like the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant undertaken by Chinese enterprises overseas.
He also said the team gave full play to its leading role in design and rich construction experience in the water sector, shaping a refined design with an innovative management model, which significantly improved work efficiency and quality control.
According to WASA, a number of measures have been taken to radically change the water management and sewerage system of Dhaka city through the "Ghure Darao Dhaka WASA" program. A sewage treatment plant was undertaken as part of that. Initiatives were taken to bring Dhaka city into a 100% sewerage network and treat the sewage and dump it in the river.
Dhaka WASA Managing Director Taksim A Khan said a few days ago, "We will commission the Dasherkandi treatment plant in April this year."
Dhaka WASA's first sewage treatment plant is in Narayanganj's Pagla. The Dasherkandi sewage treatment plant is the second.
WASA will then build four more sewage treatment plants at Rayerbazar, Uttara, Mirpur and Narayanganj's Fatullah. WASA has plans to make the Rayerbazar sewage treatment plant an underground sewage treatment plant.
