Our water has become clear again "- Seeing and hearing from Dasher Gandhi Village in Bangladesh, close-up:" Because of the Chinese project China | Dhaka | Project
Xinhua News Agency, Dhaka, August 15th - Close up: "Due to the Chinese project, our water has become clear again" - From Dasher Gandhi Village in Bangladesh
Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Nan
"Due to the Chinese project, our water has become clear again," 74 year old Bangladeshi uncle Abdul sat cross legged on the boat, smiling and telling reporters.
In the southeast suburbs of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, there is a clear lake in the village of Dasher Gandhi. Abdul operates a sightseeing boat here for tourists to relax and entertain.
"A few years ago, it wasn't like this here," Abdul said with emotion. "I lived here when I was a child, and it was very clean at first. But as the city of Dhaka grew larger, the population increased, the water quality deteriorated, and garbage was everywhere."
However, to Abdul's surprise, the water in his hometown has become clear again in the past two years, and he can even make a living by raising fish in the river and operating sightseeing boats.
This change stems from the construction and operation of the Dasher Gandhi sewage treatment plant.
As the largest city in Bangladesh, Dhaka has a population of nearly 20 million and is growing rapidly. Urban sewage is mainly discharged directly into rivers. In order to improve the local water environment and enhance people's well-being, as a key project under the framework of the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" between China and Bangladesh, the Dashergandi Sewage Treatment Plant, which was constructed by the Chinese government with preferential loans, financed by the Export Import Bank of China, and contracted by PowerChina Chengdu Survey, Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd. and responsible for operation and maintenance, was officially started in 2017.
Entering the project site, the reporter saw the foul smelling sewage entering the treatment tank. After being treated by sedimentation, biochemical reaction, UV disinfection and other methods, it was discharged into the nearby river through the drainage outlet.
According to project manager Ren Ruike, the construction of the sewage treatment plant has always adhered to the concept of low-carbon environmental protection and tailored measures to local conditions. In the construction of the treatment plant and sludge incineration, local needs and actual situations are fully considered, and the latest domestic technologies and standards are introduced to ensure that the effluent quality and sludge incineration purification flue gas emission indicators are better than the contract standards.
At present, Dasher Gandhi Sewage Treatment Plant can treat the domestic sewage of nearly 5 million people in Dhaka every day. It is the first modern large-scale sewage treatment plant, the first modern sludge incineration plant in Bangladesh, the largest single sewage treatment plant in South Asia, and the first time that China's patented technology and equipment of "spray drying+rotary kiln incineration process" have been built and put into operation overseas. Since its commissioning in March 2022, the project has treated a total of 150 million tons of wastewater.
Standing on the riverbank at the outlet of the sewage treatment plant, Bangladeshi environmentalist Shuman said that the operation of the Dashergandi sewage treatment plant has alleviated the urban sewage treatment crisis faced by Dhaka.
"We see treated water being discharged into this canal, and then the water from the canal flows back into the river, making the water in Dhaka cleaner. People take showers and fish here, making good use of the water resources." Schumann said, "The local biodiversity will also be improved as a result. We can see many types of birds flying here, and there are also many different types of fish swimming in the river.".
The once foul smelling river around the sewage plant is now clear and beautiful.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina recently stated, "The operation of this project marks the beginning of the overall planning and implementation of Bangladesh's sewage system, and will play an important role in improving the water quality of rivers in relevant areas."
"It's China that has made my hometown cleaner," said Abdul as he paddled his boat and began to receive a new group of tourists. On the side, local children are playing and frolicking in the clear river water to their heart's content, and old scalpers occasionally wade into the water to cool down and relieve the heat.
