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Department of Public Health Engineering

department · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Md. Abdul Awal
Role
Chief Engineer (Routine Duties)
Annual budget
—
Staff
6879
Established
—
Legal basis
Established 1936 under British colonial administration as the Public Health Engineering Department of East Bengal; absorbed into the Government of Bangladesh after independence in 1971 under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives; operates under the Rules of Business of the Government of Bangladesh (Schedule I, allocation of business to Local Government Division)

DPHE is actively implementing the $350M World Bank BD Rural WASH for HCD Project (P169342) across 182 upazilas: 1,287 small piped schemes commissioned (203,346 beneficiaries, 39% of target), large piped schemes delayed to October 2026 completion; arsenic contamination persists in 61 of 64 districts with DPHE operating WQTRMS digital water quality monitoring platform; FY2025-26 ADP allocation for DPHE reduced, drawing sector concern; safely managed drinking water access nationally at approximately 59%, safely managed sanitation at 37% (JMP 2025).

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

DPHE established 1936 (British East Bengal administration), sanitation mandate added 1945, rehabilitated post-1971 independence. Parent is Local Government Division (slug: local-government-division), which itself falls under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives. Head title is 'Chief Engineer' (not Director General); current incumbent is Md. Abdul Awal with 'Routine Duties' designation, confirmed from official DPHE officer list (dphe.gov.bd); head_since is null because no appointment date is published in accessible primary sources. Staff count 6,879 (Class I: 231, Class II: 713, Class III: 3,137, Class IV: 2,798) sourced from assignmentpoint.com citing DPHE institutional profile; no contradicting primary figure found. Annual budget not separately published; embedded in LGD ADP envelope. Arsenic contamination confirmed in 61 of 64 districts, 249 of 470 upazilas above 50 ppb threshold; DPHE first identified contamination in Chapai Nawabganj in late 1993. On the '$375M Metro Dhaka Water' specification: the correct verified figure is $370 million (World Bank Board approval February 10, 2026, P506770); DPHE is NOT a direct implementing agency on this project -- it is implemented by Dhaka North/South City Corporations, Narayanganj City Corporation, Gazipur City Corporation, and DWASA, coordinated by LGD; the $375M figure does not match any verified source. BD Rural WASH P169342: World Bank $300M + GoB $50M co-financing, approved August 20, 2020; DPHE co-implements with PKSF. BMWSSP P161227: World Bank + AIIB $100M municipal water project, DPHE sole implementing agency; loan closed December 31, 2024. Verification based on 2+ independent primary sources for all major factual claims. safely managed drinking water national coverage approximately 59% (JMP 2025 report via UNICEF data); safely managed sanitation 37% (2024, up from 25% in 2015).

Sources