Objective and Purpose of the Assignment
 | The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) approved a $100 million special grant for Grant 0582-BAN: Emergency Assistance Project (EAP) in July 2018 to provide high-priority basic infrastructure and essential services to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the influx of displaced persons from Myanmar in 2017. The project directly benefited 1,210,000 people in the camps and host communities. The project area is located at Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas, and Cox’s Bazar Town of Cox’s Bazar district. The project was implemented between July 2018 – January 2023. It comprised of four outputs, and one of them was for improvement of water supply and sanitation. This component was implemented by Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE). Among others, this output also included Construction of surface water treatment plant (WTP) for supporting water supply at Cox’s Bazar city and surrounding areas. [SWTP with a capacity of 1000 m3/hr.] (i) water treatment plant of capacity 218 m3/hr with 1-year operation and maintenance. (ii) river intake on the left bank of Bakkhali river near rubber dam (iii) boundary wall around the treatment plant site (iv) 6.5 km water transmission main (HDPE PN10, PE-100, SDR 17), 630mm dia.] (v) over ground treated water reservoir `of capacity 4000 m3 (vi) 15 km water distribution main (HDPE PN10, PE-100, SDR 17), 400mm dia.] (vii) 4-overhead tanks (OHTs) of capacity 700 m3/each]. Recently ADB assessed the subproject status. It is expected that the subproject will be completed by May 2023, then handed over to Cox’s Bazar Pourashava for its operation. However, the preparedness and capacity of Cox’s Bazar Pourashava is assessed as low to operate the plant- after the completion and handover. The household service connection, supply and installation of water meters, meter reading and billing, and revenue collection system are essential to meet the project outcome- which are yet to be established for commercial operations. To complete these activities, ADB recommended DPHE and Cox’s Bazar Pourashava to conduct a gap assessment, so that water supply to the households can be ensured. DPHE requested ADB for technical assistance through consulting services to conduct the assessment, prepare an action plan, and estimate costs for the household service connection. |
Scope of Work
| Conduct a rapid assessment of water supply facilities constructed by the ADB-financed EAP for delivering water to the user ends and prepare recommendations for the optimum operations of facilities based on government policy and regulations. |
Detailed Tasks and/or Expected Output
| (i) Assess the condition of operations of Cox’s Bazar water treatment plant, river intake in Bakkhali river; water transmission mains; overhead treated water reservoir; 15 km water distribution mains, and 4- overhead tanks (OHTs). (ii) Assess the existing resources and institutional capacity of Cox’s Bazar Pourashava for taking over the water treatment plant and facilities, resource requirements for the Pourashava for human resources, the technical and financial capacity to establish the monitoring of the water supply to the Cox’s Bazar city, metering, billing and collection of fees, tariff structures, etc. (iii) Propose institutional and technical capacity enhancement including metering and billing based on the government-approved policy and regulations. (iv) Prepare cost estimates including Bill of Quantities (BoQ) of the water supply networks for household service connection taking into account the WTP capacity. (v) Propose the required capacity-building program of Cox’s Bazar Pourshava for conducting water supply operations; (vi) Recommend zoning for water distribution and implementation phases with the priority of water demand. (vii) Conduct consultation with local residents, business associations, and civil society. And (viii) Propose action plans including the financing option and recommendations for transition arrangements for transferring the WTP facilities from DPHE to Pourashava. Output Content Estimated Submission Date 1. Inception Report Baseline information with proposed approach and methodology 20 May 2023 2. Draft Final Report BOQ for household connections including sustainable O&M arrangement, and recommendations 10 June 2023 3. Final report Recommendations on the next steps toward the medium-term plan of action including sustainable O&M arrangement 20 June 2023 |
Minimum Qualification Requirements
| ADB seeks to engage a Water Supply Expert (National) and demonstrate similar experiences. The expert must hold a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering or related fields with strong water sector knowledge. Experience in water supply projects is essential. The expert should have a comprehensive understanding of the water supply sector operations and challenges in a similar city like Cox’s Bazar. The expert will demonstrate excellent communication, coordination, reporting and data presentation skills. The expert must submit the CV of the proposed Water Supply Expert must meet the following qualification criteria: • Minimum General Experience 10 Years • Minimum Specific Experience (relevant to assignment-Water Supply) 5 Years • Country Experience Required (work experience in camps/UN agencies) |
