Strategies to Connect Low-Income Communities with the Proposed Sewerage Network of the Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project, Bangladesh: A Qualitative Assessment of the Perspectives of Stakeholders

Mahbub-Ul Alam, Fazle Sharior, Sharika Ferdous, Atik Ahsan, Tanvir Ahmed, Ayesha Afrin, Supta Sarker, Farhana Akand, Rownak Jahan Archie, Kamrul Hasan, Rosie Renouf, Sam Drabble, Guy Norman, Mahbubur Rahman and James B. Tidwell
Additional contact information
Mahbub-Ul Alam: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Fazle Sharior: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Sharika Ferdous: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Atik Ahsan: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Tanvir Ahmed: Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Ayesha Afrin: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Supta Sarker: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Farhana Akand: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Rownak Jahan Archie: Institute of Statistical Research and Training, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Kamrul Hasan: Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), Dhaka 1215, Bangladesh
Rosie Renouf: Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), London ECV4 6AL, UK
Sam Drabble: Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), London ECV4 6AL, UK
Guy Norman: Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), London ECV4 6AL, UK
Mahbubur Rahman: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
James B. Tidwell: Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: In Bangladesh, approximately 31% of urban residents are living without safely managed sanitation, the majority of whom are slum residents. To improve the situation, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) is implementing the Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project (DSIP), mostly funded by the World Bank. This study assessed the challenges and opportunities of bringing low-income communities (LICs) under a sewerage connection within the proposed sewerage network plan by 2025. We conducted nine key-informant interviews from DWASA and City Corporation, and 23 focus-group discussions with landlords, tenants, and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) from 16 LICs near the proposed catchment area. To achieve connections, LICs would require improved toilet infrastructures and have to be connected to main roads. Construction of large communal septic tanks is also required where individual toilet connections are difficult. To encourage connection in LICs, income-based or area-based subsidies were recommended. For financing maintenance, respondents suggested monthly fee collection for management of the infrastructure by dividing bills equally among sharing households, or by users per household. Participants also suggested the government’s cooperation with development-partners/NGOs to ensure sewerage connection construction, operation, and maintenance and prerequisite policy changes such as assuring land tenure.

Keywords: urban sanitation; sewerage network; sewerage connection; low-income community; slum; DSIP; affordability; Dhaka; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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