Water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... : Water and Sanitation

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|-
!align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="3"|Data
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Water coverage (broad definition)
|valign="top"| 74%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Sanitation coverage (broad definition)
|valign="top"| 39%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Continuity of supply (%)
|valign="top"| Intermittent
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Average urban water use (l/c/d)
|valign="top"| 115 (in Dhaka 2001)
97 (2007)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Average urban water tariff (US$/m³)
|valign="top"| 0.12 (Average of main urban areas in 2007)
0.08 (in Dhaka 2007)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Share of household metering
|valign="top"| 67% (2007)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Annual investment in WSS
|valign="top"| US$0.55/capita (Average 1994/95-2000/01)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Share of self-financing by utilities
|valign="top"| Very low
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Share of tax-financing
|valign="top"| Low
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Share of external financing
|valign="top"| n/a
|-
!align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="3"|Institutions
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Decentralization to municipalities
|valign="top"| Full
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|National water and sanitation company
|valign="top"| None
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Water and sanitation regulator
|valign="top"| None
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Responsibility for policy setting
|valign="top"| National Water Resources Council (NWRC) for water resources management
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Sector law
|valign="top"| None
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Number of urban service providers
|valign="top"| More than 200 municipalities and 2 Water Supply and Sewerage Agencies (for Dhaka and Chittagong)
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Number of rural service providers
|valign="top"| n/a
|-
|}

Water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh is characterized by a number of achievements and challenges. The share of the population with access to an improved water source

Improved water source

According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation by the World Health Organization and UNICEF the following are considered as "improved" water sources:* household connections* public standpipes* boreholes* protected dug wells...

was estimated at 98% in 2004, a very high level for a low-income country. This has been achieved to a large extent through the construction of handpumps with the support of external donors. However, in 1993 it was discovered that groundwater, the source of drinking water for 97% of the rural population and a significant share of the urban population, is in many cases naturally contaminated with arsenic

Arsenic contamination of groundwater

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a natural occurring high concentration of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater, which became a high-profile problem in recent years due to the use of deep tubewells for water supply in the Ganges Delta, causing serious arsenic poisoning to large numbers of...

. It gradually emerged that 70 million people drank water which exceeds the WHO guidelines of 10 microgram of arsenic per liter, and 30 million drank water containing more than the Bangladesh National Standard of 50 microgram per liter, leading to chronic arsenic poisoning. On the other hand, surface water is usually polluted and requires treatment. Taking arsenic contamination into account, it was estimated that in 2004 still 74% of the population had access to arsenic-free drinking water. Another challenge is the low level of cost recovery due to low tariffs and poor economic efficiency, especially in urban areas where revenues from water sales do not even cover operating costs. In rural areas, users contribute 34% of investment costs, and at least in piped water schemes supported by the Rural Development Academy

Rural Development Academy

The Rural Development Academy is a specialized rural development institution in Bogra, Bangladesh.-Source:*...

recover operating costs.

Sanitation faces its own set of challenges, with only 39% of the population estimated to have had access to adequate sanitation facilities in 2004. This is actually a doubling of the 20% share in 1990. A new approach to improve sanitation coverage in rural areas, the community-led total sanitation

Community-led total sanitation

Community-led Total Sanitation is an innovative methodology for mobilising communities to completely eliminate open defecation . Communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation and take their own action to become ODF .At the heart of CLTS lies the...

concept that has been first introduced in Bangladesh, is credited for having contributed significantly to the increase in sanitation coverage since 2000.

The government has adopted a number of policies to remedy the challenges in the sector, including National Policies for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation, both of 1998, a National Water Policy of 1999, a National Water Management Plan, and a National Policy for Arsenic Mitigation, both of 2004. Among others, these policies emphasize decentralization, user participation, the role of women, and "appropriate pricing rules". The Arsenic Mitigation Policy gives "preference to surface water over groundwater". At the operational level, there has also been a conceptual shift from single-use of water - such as through handpumps for drinking water and motorized deep tubewells for irrigation - to multiple use of water from deep tubewells since the 1990s.

Access

Since arsenic was discovered in Bangladeshi groundwater in 1993, the share of population with access to safe drinking water had to be adjusted downward. According to the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation of UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO)

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

, access to an improved source of water supply increased only slightly from 72% in 1990 to 74% in 2004, whereas coverage of improved sanitation nearly doubled from 20% to 39% during the same period.

Estimates of access to an improved source of water supply is greatly affected by the presence of arsenic in groundwater, which is estimated to affect 27% of all wells and is subtracted from the figures obtained by solely measuring the level of access to infrastructure. Without taking into account the presence of arsenic, 99% of the urban population and 97% of the rural population actually had access to an improved source of water supply according to the Demographic and Health Survey of 2004, which is an unusually high level of access for a low-income country. In urban areas, access is broken down as follows:

23% piped inside dwelling
8% piped outside dwelling
68% tubewells

In rural areas the breakdown is:

Less than 0,6% piped inside and outside dwelling
96% tubewells
1% dug wells
More than 2% ponds, lakes and rivers

Rainwater harvesting, although practised in Bangladesh, was not included in the survey. The official figures of the Joint Monitoring Program, taking into account the presence of arsenic, are as follows:

Access to Water and Sanitation in the Bangladesh (2004)
		Urban (25% of the population)	Rural (75% of the population)	Total
Water	Broad definition Improved water source According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation by the World Health Organization and UNICEF the following are considered as "improved" water sources:* household connections* public standpipes* boreholes* protected dug wells...	82%	72%	74%
Water	House connections	24%	0%	6%
Sanitation	Broad definition Improved sanitation According to the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation by the World Health Organization and UNICEF the following are considered as "improved" sanitation:* connection to a public sewer* connection to a septic system* pour-flush latrine...	51%	35%	39%
Sanitation	Sewerage	7%	0%	2%

The Bangladeshi Minister for Local Government an Rural Development announced that his country aims to reach universal coverage of sanitation by 2010. To achieve this, a community-led total sanitation

Community-led total sanitation

campaign was launched in 2003. In its Millennium Development Goals Progress Report 2007, the national government is optimistic about reaching the MDGs, except for safe water supply in rural areas. However, it appears that the national government uses different definitions and/or sources than those of the JMP.

Continuity of supply

Intermittent supply was common in at least parts of the city as of 2011, forcing families to purchase drinking water and use pond or river water for their other needs. Regular power cuts, which turn off well pumps, also contribute to the intermittency of supply. Where municipalities provide the service, piped water is usually available to consumers for only 2-4 hours a day. Major water shortages in Bangladesh appear mainly during the dry season.

Drinking water quality

Poor water quality, especially in rural areas has been recognized in the National Water Policy (NWP) of 1999. Surface water is often contaminated due to human excreta and urban and industrial pollution. Population growth and industrialization will likely exacerbate the situation. Because groundwater requires less treatment, it is the main freshwater source in Bangladesh. However, in 1993 arsenic contamination was discovered in the groundwater. The World Health Organization (WHO)

World Health Organization

estimated in 2000 that between 35 and 77 million of the 125 million Bangladeshis were at risk of drinking contaminated water. In an interview published by the WHO in 2008, Professor Mahmuder Rahman quoted government estimates saying that up to 70 million people still drink water which exceeds the WHO guidelines of 10 micrograms per liter of arsenic, and 30 million drink water containing more than the Bangladesh National Standard of 50 micrograms per liter.

Wastewater treatment

In Dhaka, nearly one third of domestic effluents does not receive any kind of treatment. About 30% of the served population of the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) is covered by a sewerage system, the only one in the entire country. There is one sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 120,000 m³ per day. About 30% of the population uses conventional septic tank

Septic tank

A septic tank is a key component of the septic system, a small-scale sewage treatment system common in areas with no connection to main sewage pipes provided by local governments or private corporations...

s and another 15% uses bucket and pit latrine

Latrine

A latrine is a communal facility containing one or more commonly many toilets which may be simple pit toilets or in the case of the United States Armed Forces any toilet including modern flush toilets...

s. During the rainy season, sewage overflows are common.

Water resources

Sources of drinking water Water supply in Bangladesh relies mainly on groundwater. In rural areas, more than 97% of the population relies on groundwater for its drinking water supply. In Dhaka, 82% of the water supply is abstracted from groundwater that is free of arsenic, while three surface water treatment plants provide the remaining 18%. Groundwater is being severely depleted in Dhaka where the groundwater levels are dropping at two to three metres every year. The city’s water table has sunk by 50 metres in the past four decades and the closest underground water is now over 60 meters below ground level. The Asian Development Bank estimated in 2007 that by 2015 a severe supply shortage would occur if the utility did not reduce groundwater abstraction.

Availability of water resources Bangladesh has an enormous excess of surface water during the summer monsoon

Monsoon of Indian subcontinent

A Monsoon of the India is among the several geographically distributed observations of the global monsoons. In the subcontinent, it is one of oldest weather observations, an economically important weather pattern and the most anticipated weather event and unique weather phenomenon. Yet it is only...

(June to October) and relative scarcity towards the end of the dry season in April and May. Internal renewable water resources are about 105 km³ per year, while inflowing transboundary rivers provide another 1,100 km³ annually (average 1977-2001).

Management of transboundary water resources. Although Bangladesh only occupies 8% of the Brahmaputra

Brahmaputra River

The Brahmaputra , also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, is a trans-boundary river and one of the major rivers of Asia. It is the only Indian river that is attributed the masculine gender and thus referred to as a in Indo-Aryan languages and languages with Indo-Aryan influence...

, Meghna

Meghna River

The Meghna River is an important river in Bangladesh, one of the three that forms the Ganges Delta, the largest on earth fanning out to the Bay of Bengal. Being a part of the Surma-Meghna River System, Meghna is formed inside Bangladesh by the joining of different rivers originaing from the hilly...

and Ganges

Ganges River

The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...

river basins, it heavily depends on the flow of these rivers. As a lower riparian, the country depends on upstream developments. Whereas deforestation and flood control in the upstream catchment areas increase the flood peaks in Bangladesh, water withdrawals and water diversions may result in water shortages, particularly in the dry season. Since Bangladesh has limited control over the rivers, the country has to cooperate with other riparians to improve the situation. However, so far there have been only bilateral agreements such as the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty between India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

and Bangladesh, signed in 1996, which allows Bangladesh to receive a minimum amount of 35000 cuft/s during the dry season.

Water use

Only about 15 km³ annually, or about 1% of total water resources, is being withdrawn for human use. Out of the total withdrawals, 86% is for agriculture, 12% for domestic water supply and 2% for industry. Out of the total consumptive use of water (withdrawals minus return flows), 73% is used for agricultural purposes and 20% for evaporation in forests, water bodies, charland, urban and rural environment, leaving 7% for water supply and sanitation. Although population growth has slowed to less than 2% per year, it is predicted that Bangladesh's total population will increase from 129 million people in 2000 to 181 million by 2025 and 224 million by 2050, accompanied by an increased demand for water.

History and recent developments

The country's national water policy was mainly focused on agricultural issues and was aimed at food self-sufficiency

Self-sufficiency

Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...

. Accordingly, flood control drainage and irrigation projects were the most common measures. In the 1990s the necessity of a more comprehensive approach was recognized, leading to the formulation of a National Water Policy.

History

The first central institution in the water sector in what is now Bangladesh was the East Pakistan Water and Power Development Agency (EPWAPDA), created in 1959 to plan, construct and operate all water development schemes. In 1964, EPWAPDA, with the assistance of the United States development agency USAID, prepared a 20-year Water Master Plan, including flood control

Flood control

In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...

. Although infrastructure was constructed, the lack of operation and maintenance, among other things, soon led to its deterioration.

After the independence from Pakistan in 1971, EPWAPDA was restructured and renamed the Bangladesh Water Development Board. The new republic soon gained support from several agencies. The World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

published the Land and Water Sector Study in 1972, advocating small-scale flood control and irrigation projects. As a result, small-scale irrigation spread quickly during the 1970s and 1980s, partly financed by the private sector.

In light of the growing population and the expanding agricultural and industrial sectors, in 1983 the National Water Resources Council (NWRC) was founded and the newly created Master Plan Organization (MPO) started to draw up a comprehensive National Water Plan (NWP). The first phase of the NWP was completed in 1986 and included an assessment of available water resources and future demand. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia...

, a lack of attention to intersectoral and environmental issues led the national government to reject the plan. Consequently, the second phase of the NWP was drawn up from 1987 to 1991, including an estimate of the available groundwater and surface water as well as a draft water law. The draft also took into account environmental needs. In 1991, the MPO was restructured and renamed the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO).

Two destructive floods in 1987 and 1988 were followed by increased international attention and assistance. In 1989, several studies were prepared by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDO) and national agencies from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, the United States, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, and others. The World Bank coordinated the donor activities. At the end of the year, the Flood Action Plan (FAP) was approved by the national government of Bangladesh. However, according to Chadwick the plan was criticized by some donors and civil society. The planned participation of civil society was hampered by the military dictatorship that governed the country at that time. Later, the national government approved the FAP's final report, called the Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy (BWFMS), in 1995 with the support of donor agencies. Among other things, the strategy proposed the formulation of a comprehensive national water management plan, increased user participation and environmental impact assessment as integral parts of planning. Consequently, the Flood Planning Coordination Organization (FPCO), which had been established in 1992 to coordinate the studies, was merged with WARPO in 1996.

Recent developments:National Water Policy and related policies

In 1999, on the recommendation of the World Bank and after extensive consultation with all relevant actors, including NGOs and the civil society, the National Water Policy (NWP) was adopted. The document explicitly states 6 main objectives:

To address the use and development of groundwater and surface water in an efficient and equitable way
To ensure the availability of water to all parts of the society
To accelerate the development of public and private water systems through legal and financial measures and incentives, including appropriate water rights and water pricing rules
To formulate institutional changes, encouraging decentralization and enhancing the role of women in water management
To provide a legal and regulatory framework which encourages decentralization, consideration of environmental impacts, and private sector investment
To develop knowledge and capability in order to facilitate improved future water resources management plans to encourage, among other things, broad user participation

Furthermore, WARPO has developed a National Water Management Plan (NWMP), which was approved by NWRC in 2004 and aims at implementing the NWP within 25 years. It is expected to be reviewed and updated every five years. In 2005, the national government included the improvement of water supply and sanitation as part of its agenda for reducing poverty.

Complementing the National Water Policy and the National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation, both of 1998, the government adopted a National Policy for Arsenic Mitigation in 2004. The policy emphasizes public awareness, alternative safe water supply, proper diagnosis and management of patients, and capacity building. In terms of alternative supplies it gives "preference to surface water over groundwater". The latter aspect is controversial, since surface water is often highly contaminated with pathogens while deeper groundwater is often safe and free of arsenic.

Innovative approaches

A number of innovative approaches to improve access to and the sustainability of water supply and sanitation were developed in Bangladesh since the turn of the millennium. These include new management models for piped rural water supply, community-led total sanitation, and contracting out billing and collection to a woker's cooperative as an alterative to private sector participation, all further described below. In addition, two innovative pilot projects were initatiated in Dhaka. The first provided water to hitherto unserved slum areas through community-based organizations with the assistance of the NGO Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK) and WaterAid

WaterAid

WaterAid is an international non-profit organisation set up as a response to the UN International Drinking Water & Sanitation decade . WaterAid is dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. It is based in London, England and was...

from the UK. The second is a pilot for a small-bore sewer system

Simplified sewerage

Simplified sewerage is a low-cost sewer system that collects all household wastewater in small-diameter pipes laid at fairly flat gradients. Simplified sewers are laid in the front yard or under the pavement or - if feasible - inside the back yard, rather than in the centre of the road as with...

in the Mirpur area of Dhaka with financing from the Asian Development Bank.

New management models for piped rural water supply

Deep tubewells with electric pumps are common as source of water supply for irrigation in Bangladesh. The government had long been interested in making the operation of these tubewells more financially viable. One option considered was to increase revenues by selling water from deep tubewells as drinking water and for small-scale commercial operations, thus at the same time addressing the arsenic crisis. Also, the government was interested in developing new management models beyond pure community management in order to both mobilize funding and improve the quality and sustainability of service provision. To that effect two parallel innovative approaches have been pursued.

Rural Development Academy multipurpose schemes. These efforts to combine piped drinking water and irrigation schemes were initiated in 1999 by the Rural Development Academy

Rural Development Academy

The Rural Development Academy is a specialized rural development institution in Bogra, Bangladesh.-Source:*...

(RDA) with government funds and no donor involvement. RDA invited sponsors and offered to finance the construction of the well and the water supply system under the condition that:

the sponsors from the community would create a water user association (samitee),
pay for 10% of the investment costs at the time of completion of the construction,
operate and maintain the system for 10 years, and
pay back the remaining 90% of the investment costs over this period.

As of January 2008, 73 small schemes had been completed, both in areas where the shallow aquifer is contaminated by arsenic and those where this is not the case. Sponsors are NGOs, cooperatives or individuals. The number of applicants each year outnumbers the schemes to be constructed. However, tariffs have been set at relatively low levels, so that the operators barely break even and have not paid back the loans for 90% of the investment costs. Revenues from irrigation typically account for a third of the revenues of the water schemes, the remainder coming from the sale of drinking water.

Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project. Another approach has been supported by the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

through the Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project (BWSPP), implemented by the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) of the same Ministry. This approach, initiated in 2001, has been inspired by the RDA experience, but with two crucial modifications: First, it required sponsors to come up with the entire financing up-front, which was supposed to be recovered through revenues from the sale of water. Second, only drinking water was to be provided and no irrigation water. Finding sponsors willing to put their own capital at risk proved to be difficult. For this reason, and due to project management difficulties, only two schemes had been built as of January 2008, providing water to 2,000 households. Neither scheme has become financially viable. An NGO built and operates the schemes, since no private company was interested in doing so.

Community-led total sanitation

Bangladesh is the home of a new approach to increasing sanitation coverage, called community-led total sanitation (CLTS)

Community-led total sanitation

, first introduced in 2000 in a small village in the Rajshahi District

Rajshahi District

Rajshahi District is a district in north-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division. The metropolitan city of Rajshahi is in Rajshahi District.-Geography:...

by Dr. Kamal Kar in cooperation with WaterAid

WaterAid

Bangladesh and the Village Education Resource Centre (VERC).

Most traditional sanitation programs rely on the provision of subsidies, sanitation promotion, and hygiene education. Under this framework, the subsidized facilities are often very expensive and their acquisition remains limited to non-poor households. In addition, the high subsidies may reduce the feeling of personal responsibility for the toilets, leading to increased carelessness by the target group.

These shortcomings of the established programs led to the development of the new CLTS approach in Bangladesh, shifting the focus on personal responsibility and low-cost solutions. CLTS aims to totally stop open defecation within a community rather than facilitating improved sanitation only to selected households. Awareness of local sanitation issues is raised through a walk to open defecation areas and water points (walk of shame) and a calculation of the amount of excreta caused by open defecation. Combined with hygiene education, the approach aims to make the entire community realize the severe health impacts of open defecation. Since individual carelessness may affect the entire community, pressure on each person becomes stronger to follow sanitation principles such as using sanitary toilets, washing hands, and practicing good hygiene. To introduce sanitation even in the poorest households, low-cost toilets are promoted, constructed with local materials. The purchase of the facility is not subsidized, so that every household must finance its own toilets.

In 2006, the number of villages with total sanitation was estimated at more than 5,000 throughout the country. At the same time, CLTS had spread in at least six countries in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

and three in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. According to the Bangladeshi Millennium Development Goals Progress Report 2007, in 2003 a CLTS campaign was launched in order to reach 100% sanitation coverage by 2010.

Policy and regulation

A large number of government entities are in charge of various aspects of the water sector in Bangladesh. The National Water Management Plan (NWMP) lists not less than 13 ministries involved in the sector.

Among them are the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture (in charge of irrigation), the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (in charge of water supply in rural areas and cities outside of Dhaka and Chittagong).

The National Water Resources Council (NWRC) formulates general water policies in Bangladesh and oversees their implementation. Although the council is expected to provide the main policy guidelines and directions, it is not entrusted with carrying out those policies. The NWRC advises the Cabinet on water policy. It is supported by an Executive Committee and chaired by the Prime Minister. Moreover, 10 ministries and several water experts and other representatives compose the NWRC.

The Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), placed under the Ministry of Water Resources, acts as Secretariat of the Executive Committee. According to the 1999 National Water Policy, among its other functions WARPO has an up-to-date National Water Resources Database, checks all water sector projects for their conformity to the NWMP, and carries out further studies and activities as assigned by the Executive Committee or the National Government. The NWMP does not explicitly allocate the role of setting sanitation policy for any institution.

The Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MLGRDC) is in charge of assisting municipalities and communities in building water supply infrastructure.

Although the NWMP foresaw the creation of independent regulatory bodies in order to ensure compliance with appropriate standards as well as cost-effective service provision, no such agency had been created until 2007.

Water Supply and Sewerage Authorities and municipalities

Water supply and sanitation are carried out at the local level by three agencies. In the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong

Chittagong

Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...

, the semi-autonomous Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) and the Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA) provide water for domestic, industrial, and commercial consumption as well as sewerage and stormwater drainage.

Bangladesh is subdivided into more than 200 municipalities (Paurashavas). Outside of Dhaka and Chittagong, each municipality is responsible for its own water supply, sewerage, and storm drainage. They are empowered to charge tariffs and receive assistance from the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), which is responsible for waterworks development projects as well as planning in the rural water sector and all urban areas except for Dhaka and Chittagong, including construction, improvement ,and expansion of infrastructure. Once the projects are completed, the facilities are handed over to the municipalities.

Private sector and NGOs

In addition to government institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

and the private sector are involved in the provision of services and are acknowledged within the institutional sector framework in the NWMP. The improvement of the investment climate for the private sector is included in the six main objectives of the document. However, private sector participation in the Bangladeshi water supply and sanitation sector remains limited to small businesses. According to Das Gupta, direct private investment is almost non-existent. The NWMP recognizes that large-scale private participation remains a challenge.

Other functions

The Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) under the Ministry of Water Resources has the main function of working on transboundary water issues together with the other riparian countries. Environmental standards are set and enforced by the Department of Environment. The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) is responsible for the implementation of water projects that exceed 10 km² in size, whereas the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is entrusted with smaller projects. The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha, Bangladesh’s capital development authority, is in charge of urban development and setting building codes in Dhaka.

Economic efficiency

Precise figures about efficiency indicators seem to be scarce and hard to find. Nevertheless, the economic efficiency is regarded as poor even in the large WASAs. This problem is recognized in the NWMP, which therefore aims at increasing operational efficiency.

Non-revenue water

In Dhaka, the share of non-revenue water (NRW)

Non-revenue water

Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...

has been substantially reducedfrom 54% in 2003 to 29% in 2010. Concerning NRW in municipalities, the ADB indicates a share of 33-40%.is not clear, because different sources provide different figures.

Tariffs and cost recovery

The NWMP provides for the gradual increase of tariffs to fully recover the costs of service provision in urban areas using an increasing block tariff structure. In rural areas, the tariffs should cover at least all operation and maintenance costs. Since this framework is not yet implemented, municipalities or water utilities have the right to set their own tariffs controlled by the government. There is little information about current tariff rates outside of Dhaka.

Dhaka According to the ADB, the average tariff in Dhaka was US$0.06 per m³ in 2001. Those connected to sewerage had to pay double. Connection fees were between US$29 and US$60, according to the diameter of the pipe. According to DWASA's official website, in May 2007 the metered residential tariff per m³ was US$0.08.

Other urban areas Cost recovery is very poor in other urban areas and tariffs are far from recovering operation and maintenance costs. Furthermore, tariffs are regularly eroded by inflation

Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

. Many systems rely on development grants by the central government. In small urban water supply systems, imposing property taxes is a common practice to mobilize local resources. Again according to the ADB, in a sample of 61 municipalities the total average revenues (including tariffs and taxes) per municipality were US$1,827 in 2000, far from recovering the operation and maintenance costs of US$187,831.

Rural areas. Tariffs in rural areas vary. In piped multi-purpose schemes supported by RDA households pay a flat fee equivalent to about US$1.20 per month for drinking water and a flat fee equivalent to US$72/season/hectare for irrigation. Revenues from these tariffs allow to recover operation and maintenance costs.

Investment and financing

In the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of the Bangladeshi Planning Commission, the government's development investment in water supply and sanitation ranged between US$50 million and US$101 million from fiscal years 1994-1995 to 2000-2001.
From 1994-1995 to 2000-2001, the water resources

Water resources

Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water....

subsector, including flood control and irrigation received much more funding than the water supply and sanitation sector, which is shown above. On average, US$74 million or US$0.55 per capita have been spent per year. In 1996-1997, the investment for water resources was more than almost four times as high as the amount provided for water supply and sanitation. From 1973 to 1990, the share of development expenditures for water supply and sanitation decreased gradually in the respective five-year plans. In the first one, it was 2.48% of development investment, dropping to 2.14% and 1.25% in the second and third five-year plans, respectively. In the fourth plan, the allocation increased slightly to 1.41% of the budget.

According to an ADB document comparing water supply in major Asian cities, DWASA's capital expenditure was US$26 million or US$3.51 per user in 2001.

Rural areas According to an evaluation by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and its overseas representations are in charge of Denmark's foreign affairs...

, 30% of the rural water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh is financed by the national government, whereas 34% comes from bilateral and multilateral donors and another 4% from international and local NGOS. The users contribute the remaining 32%, a remarkable share compared to other countries evaluated in the study, such as Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

or Benin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

External cooperation

Several external donors have been active in the sector for decades. Concerning urban water supply and sanitation, the Government of Bangladesh and the following donors signed a partnership framework in November 2007: Asian Development Bank (ADB), Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA), the Government of Japan, the Government of the Republic of Korea, and the World Bank.

The main objectives of the framework are to cooperate in order to extend the coverage of water, sanitation, wastewater, and drainage services in Dhaka and Chittagong, especially to the poor, and to address long-standing reforms. Under the common partnership framework, all donors carry out individual projects in urban areas. However, the five donors and the Government of Bangladesh have agreed upon general strategies and necessary policy actions as well as an exchange of progress information.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

By 2003, the ADB had provided 19 loans qmounting to nearly US$700 million in the Bangladeshi water management sector. Under the partnership framework, the bank provides a program loan of US$50 million and a project loan of US$150 million within the Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program, approved in April 2008. The former loan aims to support reforms in the urban water supply and sanitation sector, including the strengthening of local institutions and the structure of DWASA, the preparation of a sector strategy and plan and the improving of financial sustainability. The project loan comprises physical investment to rehabilitate and optimize DWASA's distribution network and improve the quality of the services provided,as well as a capacity building and institutional strengthening component, and project management and implementation support. The program and the project, which are both accompanied by technical assistance, are expected to be completed at the end of 2013.

Denmark

From 1997 to 2009 Danida supported the Coastal Belt which promoted rural and small towns water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion in the coastal regions of Bangladesh, which built 30,000 arsenic-free deep hand tube wells and promoted the construction of over 300,000 household latrines.

World Bank

Under the partnership framework, the World Bank is planning to provide US$100 million to assist DWASA, the utility serving Dhaka., after a six-year hiatus since the closure of the Fourth Dhaka water supply project.

In rural areas and small towns, the World Bank supports the Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project (BWSPP), following in the footsteps of the earlier Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project. It also support a Water Management Improvement Project to improve water resources management.

Rural areas

Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project The World Bank is contributing a US$40 million loan to the Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project, designed to support Bangladesh in achieving the MDGs in water supply and sanitation by 2015 through safe water free from arsenic and pathogen

Pathogen

A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...

s in small towns and rural areas. Private-sector participation in rural areas as well as in municipalities is promoted. In small arsenic-affected villages, measures are introduced to mitigate arsenic. The project is accompanied by a monitoring and evaluation system. Furthermore, adequate regulations, monitoring, capacity building, and training, as well as the development of a local credit market and risk mitigation mechanisms for village piped water supply are supported under the project. It began in 2004 and will likely end in 2010.

Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project This project, supported by a US$44.4 million credit and implemented from 1998 to 2006, aimed at "reducing mortality and morbidity in rural and urban populations caused by arsenic contamination of groundwater using
sustainable water supply, health, and water management strategies." The project focused primarily on deep tubewells as an alternative to shallow tubewells contaminated with arsenic. It supported the drilling of 9,772 deep tubewells, 300 rainwater harvesting systems and 393 dug wells in more than 1,800 villages, all of which operated and maintained by communities and benefiting between 2 and 2.5 million people. The project was implemented by the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPEH) of MOLGRDC.

Urban areas

Fourth Dhaka Water Supply Project The Fourth Dhaka Water Supply Project was carried out from 1996 to 2002. The World Bank contributed US$80.3 million to the project. It was launched in order to "support institutional reforms in the sector, applying commercial principles and increasing private sector participation". The existing infrastructure was rehabilitated and a water treatment plant was constructed in Saidabad, producing 225 million liters per day and diversifying the city's water supply from its predominant use of groundwater. Private sector participation and the application of commercial principles were limited to the introduction of outsourcing of billing and collection in two revenue zones. Furthermore, a managing director with a private sector background was appointed to manage DWASA.

Water resources management

Water Management Improvement Project This project principally seeks to improve water resources management in Bangladesh and has two main objectives. First, to improve water resources management through the strengthening and involvement of local communities; and second, to improve the institutional performance of the main Bangladeshi water institutions, particularly the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO). Under the project, rehabilitation and improvement of about 102 existing flood control, drainage, and irrigation schemes will be supported. Together with 98 additional systems, their management will be handed over to local communities. The World Bank is contributing a loan of more than US$120 million to the project, which was approved in 2007. The project is expected to end in 2015.

Institutions

Documents and reports

National Water Management Plan (2004)
National Water Policy (1999)
Asadullah Khan in The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
The Daily Star is the largest circulating English daily newspaper in Bangladesh. Established by Syed Mohammed Ali in 14 January 1991, the newspaper is owned by Mediastar a venture of the Transcom Group, headed by Latifur Rahman...

:The looming water crisis, May 16, 2009

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