Policy drafted with fees on industrial use of water

The government is planning to impose prices on industrial use of water, aiming for better management of national resources.

The Water Resources Planning Organisation (Warpo) has already developed a draft policy that proposes imposing a shadow price for water considering its marginal damage cost, marginal abatement cost, acidification, eutrophication, and their consequences.

The draft policy also mentions that the government would fix separate prices for industrial uses of water and wastewater, in addition to the prices of water for residential and commercial uses.

Warpo proposes to impose charges at five different rates of fees, including a water management charge for the consumption of water and discharging wastewater, a water lifting charge considering volume and context of uses, and infrastructure or service fees for developing water reservoirs, pump stations, and water treatment plants.

Infrastructure or service fees for wastewater collection, transportation, treatment, and operating costs, and discharge fees for discharging wastewater considering its impact on the environment are the two other areas.

The government currently charges industries located at Mongla Export Processing Zone Tk66.82 per cubic metre of water at the highest rate, while the lowest rate is imposed on factories in Ishwardi Export Processing Zone at Tk44.41, according to officials at the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority. 

The fees are collected as service charges and water treatment costs, they said, adding, Mongla is charged higher rates due to the high salinity in water in that area.

The charge is very nominal for industries outside the industrial zones, according to the official. However, they could not provide the exact figures immediately.

Warpo Director General Md Rezaul Maksud Jahedi made a keynote presentation of the draft policy at a workshop at Water Bhaban in the capital on Wednesday.

Talking with The Business Standard, Warpo Principal Scientific Officer Mohammad Alamgir said water is the national resource, which is owned by the state.

The draft policy has indicated imposing prices on this natural resource considering its availability, density in that area, and types of industries.

At the same time, the draft also proposes to incentivize those industries that are using water efficiently and reusing wastewater, he added.

The principal scientific officer explained that the incentive could be a reduced rate on tax or import duty, it could involve giving priority to getting bank finance, which could be fixed after consultation with all stakeholders.

He also mentioned that currently, the government is not charging any prices for industrial use of water, except for service charges.

Speaking with TBS, Envoy Textile Chairman Kutubuddin Ahmed said the government should form a commission to fix water prices.

He said the rates may change every three months, considering water treatment costs and other charges.

Kutubuddin Ahmed stated that large industries should aim for zero discharge of wastewater, which will help to protect the environment and make Earth more liveable.

Envoy Textile is currently reusing about 50% of its wastewater in its dyeing process, and the rest is discharged into its own lake. The company plans to achieve 100% reuse of wastewater through treatment by 2027.

Addressing the workshop, State Minister of Water Resources Zaheed Farooque said Bangladesh has 61,595 industries, including over 10,000 garment and textile units.

Referring to an estimate from 2011, he said Bangladeshi industries use 100 million cubic metres of water, which is projected to double by 2030.

"If we are not able to efficiently use this natural resource, it will turn into a disaster," he added.

Dhaka University Geology Professor Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed said the policy should focus on water cycle management and the reuse of water.

He added that it should provide an incentive to encourage the reuse of wastewater.

Dhaka University Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Dean Professor Md Zillur Rahman said the government should provide permission to establish industries considering the availability of water, the nature of the industry, and its water consumption pattern; otherwise, it may affect the locality.

"They should also consider the lifetime total water consumption estimate," he added.

He also mentioned that many tube wells have failed to extract groundwater in different industrial areas due to a lack of surveys on water availability.

Kutubuddin Muhammad Jasim, who goes by the name Jasim Uddin is a Special Correspondent at The Business Standard. His areas of expertise are trade and private sector investment, labour rights, labour issues, sustainability, and revenue policy (Vat, Tax and Customs). He can be found at newsmanjasi@gmail.com