Dhaka – The World Bank has approved $370 million in financing to improve sanitation and solid waste management services in Dhaka and surrounding areas.
The initiative aims to reduce water pollution and support the restoration of the Bangladeshi capital’s rivers and canals.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the World Bank announced that its Board of Executive Directors had approved the funding under the Metro Dhaka Water Security and Resilience Program.
The program is designed to strengthen the capacity of local and national institutions to tackle water pollution in greater Dhaka—a region that contributes approximately half of the country’s formal employment and one-third of its GDP.
A key feature of the program is a results-based system intended to help city corporations and the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) deliver measurable, on-the-ground improvements.
According to the press statement, the initiative will provide safely managed sanitation services to 550,000 people and improved solid waste management to 500,000 people, with priority given to 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,” 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 is currently facing severe wastewater and water pollution challenges. Only about 20 percent of residents are connected to a piped sewer system, and a mere 2 percent use functional fecal sludge management services.
More than 80 percent of untreated wastewater and sewage is discharged directly into the region’s interconnected waterways. Additionally, over half of Dhaka’s canals have either disappeared or become severely clogged, exacerbating the pollution crisis.
To address these issues, the program adopts a holistic approach that engages both public and private sectors, as well as city corporations. It aims to improve service delivery, strengthen the regulatory framework, and revive the capital’s rivers and canals by reducing pollution and restoring natural water flow.
Industrial pollution remains a critical concern.
Approximately 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export-oriented garment factories are located in Dhaka, and more than 7,000 factories discharge an estimated 2,400 million liters of untreated wastewater into waterways daily. This has led to increased rates of skin conditions, diarrheal diseases, and neurological disorders.
The program will mobilize private sector participation—particularly from industries in and around Dhaka—to deploy expertise and capital in scaling up industrial effluent treatment and water reuse, thereby optimizing water efficiency and reducing 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 for 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 first phase will cover selected areas in Dhaka and Narayanganj. It will focus on improving primary waste collection coverage—particularly in underserved communities near major canals and rivers—and upgrading recycling systems.
Community-led awareness campaigns and pollution control enforcement will also be undertaken to curb solid waste dumping, direct sewage discharge into drainage networks, and the release of industrial effluent into rivers and canals.
The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh. Since the country’s independence, the Bank has committed over $46 billion in grants, interest-free, and concessional credits. It currently has an active commitment of more than $12 billion across 43 projects, the statement added.
