At around project appraisal in 2006, Bangladesh had a total of about 140 million people, a quarter of whom lived in urban areas. While overall population was growing at 1.4% per year, urban population increased at 2.5% or nearly twice the national rate. Uncontrolled urbanization and rural-to-urban migration was creating heavy and largely unabated demands on the country’s urban infrastructure. Inadequacy of urban services, including water and sanitation, was becoming more acute, posing severe hindrances to the continued development of urban areas and poverty reduction.
Recognizing this, the government included water supply and sanitation improvement in its 7-point 2005 poverty reduction strategy. To help realize this priority, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $41 million loan for the Secondary Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project in October 2006. The project used a demand− and performance−driven approach to extend water supply and sanitation to approximately 853,000 people in 16 selected secondary towns or pourashavas. Its expected impact was improved living conditions and health standards in the participating pourashavas. Its intended outcome was sustainable access to improved and safe water and sanitation services in the project areas. It had 3 planned outputs: (i) water supply improvements, (ii) sanitation improvements, and (iii) institutional development. It was implemented in 2 phases.
Under phase 1: household connections and water transmission and distribution pipelines were rehabilitated; and arsenic-iron removal plants, overhead tanks (OHTs), and a surface water treatment plant (SWTP) were repaired. Production tube wells (PTWs) were regenerated, enabling increased production capacity and greater water availability. Following the rehabilitation of water supply systems, household connections rose to 49,930 from 45,567 and 36,811 new meters were installed.
After they met the performance and reform criteria, all the participating pourashavas moved on to phase 2, under which, new transmission and distribution pipelines were laid; and new PTWs, STWPs, and OHTs were installed. New meters were also installed and household connections were rehabilitated. An additional 48,200 beneficiary households were reached, bringing the total project water supply beneficiaries to 93,787 households.
The project’s basic approach of improving sanitation by enhancing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the population and generating increased demand was supported by the construction of community, school, public, and household latrines. Sludge treatment plants were also constructed.
Institutional strengthening enhanced the ability of the executing agency, the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), to manage sector−wide investments and institutionalized its role as a technical support agency to the pourashava water supply sections (PWSSs). The introduction of new accounting systems improved pourashava−level inventory and monitoring of fixed assets and progress in the new meter−based billing system.
At completion, the project either achieved or surpassed most of the outcome targets. Sustainable access to improved and safe water and sanitation improved the quality of life. Average annual household income increased from Tk73,031 in 2009 to Tk221,665 at project completion. Mortality and morbidity rates from waterborne diseases significantly declined. Tariffs and institutional and financial reforms, adopted as part of the project design, improved the financial performance of PWSSs in all 16 pourashavas.
ADB’s South Asia Department rated the project successful. The DPHE was the executing agency and the 16 pourashavas, the implementing agencies.
