The Bangladeshi Executive Committee of the National Economic (ECNEC) has approved a project to procure some 35 dredgers, costing around $526 million, to keep up navigability in 100 major rivers across the country, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reports.
The approval came from the 11th ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year held at the NEC conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Briefing the reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that the dredging operations keep ferries, cargo ships and other river vessels functional on domestic river routes round the year.
According to the Ministry of Shipping, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) currently has 25 dredgers with 10 more dredgers are expected to join its fleet in the nearest future.
The project has been framed based on the findings of the ‘Feasibility Study on Capital Dredging and Sustainable River management in Bangladesh’.
Once the project is implemented, it will be possible to meet around 70.81 percent of the annual dredging capacity of the country, BSS informs.