The objective of this assignment is to collect relevant information for DPHE and AIIB project team to: (i) determine the priorities and types of investment among identified towns; (ii) identify water sources (surface water or mix of surface water and groundwater sources) for each town to meet future water demand (for next 30 years); (iii) identify and assess potential climate-related risks; (iii) understand gaps in WSS service delivery and willingness to pay for service improvement; (iv) screen environmental and social risks associated with proposed investment activities; and (v) support DPHE in initial stakeholder engagement, capacity-building and regular progress monitoring and reporting.

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e.Gen and the consultants are responsible to conduct the following tasks:

1. Review the sectoral background documents such as the National Water and Sanitation Strategy (revised and updated edition 2021), river water flow and water level data from the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), and the source of river origin and any related transboundary issues, river water quality data from the Department of Environment, temperature and rainfall data from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, groundwater analytical reports from DPHE, etc. Review reports of initial site visits conducted by AIIB-hired local consultant.

2. Review and update the term of Reference (TOR) of the “Consulting Services for Feasibility Study, Detailed Engineering Design and Other Project Preparation Support” for the hiring of consultancy firm under the technical assistance project.

3. Collect historical meteorological, hydrological, hydrogeological, climate related hazard events (such as floods, drought & storms) and raw water quality data (including maps & drawings, test wells data, stage-discharge river profiles, rainfall data etc.), as relevant to potential surface water and ground water sources for providing reliable water supply to each town.

4. Undertake relevant topographic and/or hydrogeological surveys, hydrological modelling, and analyses to:

1. assess morphology of rivers (how they change in shape and direction over time, analyses of river flow patterns to determine on a reliable basis whether the availability of water is perennial or seasonal, level of sediment flow and deposit etc.);

2. determine average flows and yields of raw water from each potential surface water and ground water source.

3. assess risk exposure of existing water supply and sanitation facilities and of potential surface water & ground water sources to climate hazard events.

1. Carry out baseline surveys of demand and supply for water supply and sanitation and refine projections of future demand for the medium term (15 years) and long term (30 years);

2. Recommend reliable water sources (either surface-water-based or a mix of surface-water-based and groundwater-based) to meet future long-term water demand (30 years), based on aforementioned analyses.

3. Undertake field surveys and investigations (such as raw water quality analyses to determine river water quality and geotechnical investigations to determine river bank stability at various points, along the length of river etc.), in order to recommend potential locations on river banks for raw water intake structures or for production tube wells, if a mix of surface water and ground water sources is recommended, duly considering availability of adequate municipal or Government land for the same and considering availability of access routes for laying water pipelines to convey raw water to water treatment plant;

4. Conduct site investigation of existing water supply and sanitation infrastructure to determine their condition and utility for use in future water supply and wastewater systems.

5. Identify potential investment components on a preliminary basis for meeting future water demand and for meeting future wastewater and sanitation requirements, including repairs and rehabilitation of existing water supply and sanitation assets.

6. Identified investment components should cover the complete range of services provided in this TOR, from water sources to disposal points of treated wastewater and treated septage sludge and treated effluent. Proposed investment components may, thus, include but not be limited to the following:

7. For water supply - source development, raw water intake, water treatment plant, water transmission and distribution systems, water storage reservoirs, flood protection, climate hazard events risk management facilities etc.

8. For wastewater and sanitation - new public sanitation facilities, connection of household greywater system to roadside drains, covering of roadside drains, construction of new road side drains, small wastewater treatment facilities for treating greywater, provision of septage evacuation system, offsite septage treatment facilities, safe disposal of treated grey and black wastewater & sludge etc.,

9. Prepare preliminary cost estimates for water supply component and sanitation component for each district town to meet medium (15 years) and long-term requirement (30 years). Cost estimate shall be made on a preliminary basis, based on recognized norms, experience of similar projects in Bangladesh or other Asian countries with similar complexities and on international best practices, with appropriate justification of assumptions.

10. Make an inventory of available land (i.e., size, ownership) for locations of proposed investment components and broadly identify potential types of environmental and social risks at each location.

11. Conduct public consultations with DPHE, municipality, potential beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders to identify and confirm key areas for improvement in water supply and sanitation services, including operation and maintenance, billing and collection etc. and to identify topics for capacity building activities.

12. Assess the institutional and fiscal capacity of the municipality required for managing the desired level of service delivery and to assess the capacity of DPHE (at the district and central levels) to support the investment project.

13. Based on all the above, the Consultant shall identify appropriate criteria to rank the towns based on their level of preparedness to develop investment proposals, receive proposed investment and to implement investment projects. Based on such criteria, the Consultant shall rank all 16 district towns in terms of priority, from a financing and implementation perspective.

14. Based on the above, the consultant will assist DPHE to prepare a Preliminary Development Project Proposal (PDPP) in the appropriate format for the investment project.