The government is going to undertake a project for safe water supply and sanitation facilities to improve the health and living standards of the Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar, who were forcibly displaced from Myanmar.
“The Planning Commission has already received a draft project proposal to this end from the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) under the Local Government Division,” a senior Planning Commission official told BSS.
The project titled ‘Emergency assistance project on ensuring safe water and sanitation operations at Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas in Cox’s Bazar’ will be implemented at an estimated cost of Tk 6.29 billion by June 2021, says the report.
Out of the total project cost, Tk 2.68 will be provided by state coffer while the remaining Tk 3.6 billion by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as grants.
The Planning Commission official said the project objectives include ensuring safe water and sanitation facilities to the forcibly displaced Rohingyas living in some 32 camps at Ukhia and Teknaf including in Kutupalong and Balukhali , introducing running water supply system at the proposed communities, improving sanitation system including human waste management, resisting social degradation at the proposed Rohingya communities and ensuring equal rights of males and females in getting access to safe water and sanitation.
Bangladesh is now hosting around 1.1 million Rohingyas after some 700,000 fled a military crackdown in Rakhine since August last year.
They now live in timid and squalid camps at Ukhia and Teknaf and have no access to sanitation and water supply.
“Under the circumstances, the government has initiated a move to implement the project with grants from ADB to set up pipe water supply system with a treatment plant, reservoirs and water carrier arrangements, and sanitation facilities,” the BSS report quoted a Local Government Division official.
The main project operations include procuring seven water carriers for emergency water transportation, installation of some 48 mini piped water supply system, two integrated waste management, construction of one surface water treatment plant, construction of two surface water reservoirs with ancillary facilities, installation of two surface water treatment units with pipelines for the camps in Teknaf and some 1,000 community bath facilities for the females in the camps.