Improving water management system in Bangladesh

 

 
The World Bank, in association with the Government of the Netherlands, is supporting a Government initiative to rationalize the existing Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)’s portfolio of flood control, drainage and irrigation schemes through participatory management approach.
The proposed Water Management Improvement Project (WMIP) envisions improving BWDB's decentralized authority, including handing over the management responsibilities of the rehabilitated schemes to the community organizations, where feasible. It will also help to enhance performances of Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) and BWDB through appropriate institutional reforms.
This initiative will benefit about two million poor households in gaining access to increased employment opportunities, productions in crops and fish. It is expected to spread over some 200 existing schemes, covering about 790,000 hector acre.

In addition to the World Bank support, the Asian Development Bank, the Government of the Netherlands and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) are also supporting the Government to implement its National Water Management Plan.

The WMIP is expected to start its seven year journey from next fiscal year and will be implemented by BWDB and WARPO of the Ministry of Water Resources. The projected cost of this initiative is US$136.70 million, of which World Bank is likely to finance about US$102.26 million, while the Netherlands funding is expected to be around about US$20.0 million.   
The Government and the International Development Association (IDA), the concessionary arm of the World Bank, recently completed negotiations about this proposed project. Md. Shaheedul Haque, Additional Secretary of the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance and Masood Ahmad, Task Team Leader of the World Bank led the respective teams during the negotiations.

June 2007

Contacts:
S.M. Rezwan Ul Alam, (8802) 815-9015, Ext 4242
e-mail: salam3@worldbank.org

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit : www.worldbank.org.bd & www.worldbank.org