Safe water reaches all localities, including slums in Chattogram City

These improvements were possible through Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and Sanitation Project (CWSISP), implemented by CWASA with support from the World Bank to improve water and sanitation services in Chattogram city. Earlier, only half of the people living in the Chattogram Metropolitan Area-the country's second largest city-had access to improved water supply.

The project has helped CWASA to build capacity and undertake reform activities; prepare drainage and sewerage master plans through 2030.

The Project built infrastructures for increasing production of safe water, coupled with the rehabilitation and expansion of its water transmission and distribution network to increase access to safe water within its service area. As a result of these interventions, water supply capacity by CWASA increased by about 20 times to 3.60 billion liters a day currently from 172 million liters of water per day in 2010.

The project also supports comprehensive institutional development of CWASA to modernize its facilities and improve its efficiency. In parallel, the clarification of institutional mandates for sewerage and drainage in Chattogram paved the way for the project supporting investment planning in these sectors. With improvement in bill collection, its total revenue jumped to 2.248 billion taka in FY 2019-20 from 1.058 billion taka in FY 2010-2011. Further, the rehabilitation and extension of the of 190-kilometer transmission and distribution facilities, now ensures round the clock water availability, especially in the under-served areas.

Two booster pump stations, one at Patenga with the capacity of 45 million liter per day, and another at Kalurghat with 98 million liter per day capacity, have been fully reconstructed to pump water to the southern, eastern and northern parts of the city. This has helped significantly improved water supply in low pressure or under-served areas. On March 25, 2019, the construction of Sheikh Russel Pani Shodhonaghar (water treatment plant) with 90 million liter capacity per day was completed and had started supplying satisfactory quality water without any interruption from the same day.

Still, it's a long journey ahead with the massive need for sanitation infrastructures within the city since no part of the city is yet connected to any form of sanitation system.with a target of gradually bringing all the city population under a modern sanitation system.

The project has facilitated developing a drainage improvement strategy and master plan to mitigate the drainage water logging problem. The Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is leading the implementation of drainage master plan.