Chinese government-funded Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, the first modern treatment plant in Dhaka, Bangladesh Photo: Courtesy of Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited

A ceremony was held on Thursday to commemorate the completion of the largest single sewage treatment plant in South Asia - Bangladeshi Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, which was undertaken by Chinese enterprises and will benefit 5 million residents in Bangladesh.
Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina who appeared at the completion ceremony held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center, hailed the plant's important role in improving and protecting local rivers and environment, which will allow millions of urban residents to benefit from the modern sewage treatment facility.

The project funded by the concessional loan of the Chinese government is an important part of the Belt and Road initiative and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor.

The project's design, procurement, construction, and operation were undertaken by PowerChina's Chengdu Engineering Corporation.

"The project has created a number of 'firsts' with a sewage treatment capacity of 500,000 tons per day, making it the largest single sewage treatment plant in South Asia to date and the first modern large-scale sewage treatment plant in Bangladesh," Ju Qifeng, the deputy general manager of Chengdu Engineering Corporation, told  the Global Times.

The project also marks the first time that a sewage treatment plant and a sludge incineration plant in Bangladesh have been built simultaneously, and it is also the first time that the "spray drying + rotary kiln incineration process" technology and equipment with China's independent intellectual property rights have been put into operation overseas, Ju said.

The project manager Zhang Chengbo said the project was officially put into operation in April 2022 after working with dozens of Chinese and foreign joint venture units, suppliers, and thousands of construction workers from China and Bangladesh despite of dengue fever and COVID-19.

At the peak of the project construction, more than 1,000 local employees were employed, and thousands of jobs were created for the local people during the entire construction period, and a large amount of equipment and materials were purchased locally, which greatly promoted the local economic development, the Global Times learnt from the Chengdu Engineering Corporation.

Started in August 2017, the plant now can process sewage for nearly 5 million residents, largely contributing to the improvement of local water pollution and .level up locals' quality life. The project is consisted of an external sewage lifting pump station, sewage transport pipes, sewage treatment main plant area, and a sludge drying and incineration system.

Besides the sewage treatment plant, the Chengdu Engineering Corporation also undertakes Cox's Bazar which is the first large-scale centralized wind farm in Bangladesh. Previous reports showed that the average annual power generation of the project is 144.92 million kwh, which can save 44,500 tons of standard coal.

The Chairman of the Chengdu Engineering Corporation Huang He said the wind farm project will promote the rapid development of Bangladesh's wind power industry and the green and low-carbon development of its economy and society.