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Good practice Imported

Hatirjheel-Begunbari Integrated Development — Engineered Wetland Flood Storage for Central Dhaka

Bangladesh · Dhaka · See the Bangladesh profile · See the Dhaka profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 76% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Dhaka's RAJUK restored a degraded wetland into a 122-hectare lake-and-park system holding up to 4.81 billion litres of stormwater, easing chronic flooding, but the project's cost nearly tripled (to $180M) and displaced roughly 1,200 informal settlements before opening in 2013.

122 hectares
Wetland and open space restored
3.06 billion litres
Dry-season water storage capacity
4.81 billion litres
Rainy-season water storage capacity
180 US$ million
Final project cost (2008-2013)
1,200 settlements (approx.)
Informal settlements demolished

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), constructed by the Bangladesh Army
Period
2008–2013 (extended to 2019)
Keywords
urban wetland restoration, flood & stormwater management, green-blue infrastructure

Context

Before the project, the Hatirjheel-Begunbari area in central Dhaka was a heavily encroached, polluted low-lying wetland choked with informal settlements and waste, contributing to chronic drainage congestion and flooding across the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Activities

RAJUK, Dhaka's development authority, began construction in February 2008 using the Bangladesh Army as the executing contractor, restoring 122 hectares (302 acres) of wetland and open space engineered to hold approximately 3.06 billion litres of water in the dry season and up to 4.81 billion litres in the rainy season, alongside 8.8 km of expressway, 9.8 km of service roads, four bridges, three viaducts, walkways, a children's park and an amphitheatre, and requiring demolition of roughly 1,200 illegal settlements.

Results

The project missed its original June 2010 completion target, was extended six times, and finally opened to the public on 2 January 2013, with total cost rising to about US$180 million, roughly 2.6 times the original estimate; in 2025 it received the Asian Townscape Award in the 'Lake and Water Body Development' category, Dhaka's first city-level win in that category.

Conclusions

Post-completion reporting documents ongoing water pollution in the lake and continued informal encroachment pressure, and the scale of displacement and the near-tripling of project cost remain recurring criticisms in Bangladeshi press coverage of the project.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Very high (> €5M) — Total cost rose to about Tk2,236.02 crore (roughly US$180 million), up from an original ECNEC-approved estimate of Tk873.5 crore, including Tk1,048 crore for land acquisition and settlement removal.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Construction began February 2008, missed its original June 2010 target, was extended six times, and opened 2 January 2013.
Staffing & skills
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) project management, Bangladesh Army as executing contractor (construction phase), Hatirjheel Thana police unit (established 2018)

Conditions for success

  • A dedicated executing contractor (the Army) capable of large-scale civil works
  • A clear post-completion maintenance handover (from Army to RAJUK in 2021)

Common failure modes

  • Total cost rose to roughly 2.6 times the original estimate and the project was extended six times past its original 2010 target
  • Displacement of roughly 1,200 informal settlements without full resolution of encroachment pressure, which has continued after completion
  • Ongoing water pollution in the lake persists despite the engineered storage capacity

Where it fits

Governance type
national/city development authority with military-executed construction
Scale
citywide flood-storage infrastructure (122 ha)
Income level
lower-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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