The meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) began at 11 am yesterday at the NEC conference room. The ECNEC meeting ended at around 12:15 pm.

Ten projects, including the Urban Climate Resilient Infrastructure Project (UCRIP), were approved in the meeting held. The meeting, chaired by Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus, was attended by 19 advisors and concerned government officials.

A total cost of Tk 590.42 crore has been estimated for the implementation of the Urban Climate Resilient Infrastructure Project (UCRIP) under the Climate Change Adapted Urban Development (CCAUD) Phase III program of the German Development Bank (KfW).

Out of this, the Bangladesh government will provide Tk 203.75 crore and the German Development Bank (KfW), a development cooperation agency under the German government, will provide Tk 386.67 crore.

The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under the Local Government Department will implement the UCRIP project by June 2029.

The grant provided by the German Development Bank KfW will be used to improve the quality of life of the urban population of Bangladesh. As a result, city corporations and municipalities will gain the capacity to cope with climate change through the implementation of climate-adapted urban infrastructure development.

Under the Climate Change Adapted Urban Development (CCAUD), Barisal City Corporation (BCC) and Satkhira Municipality were supported in the first phase, Khulna City Corporation (KCC) is receiving support in the second phase, and the project will be implemented in Gaibandha Sadar Municipality, Islampur Municipality and Sirajganj Municipality in the third phase.

The project will identify climate risks in areas where people are affected by climate change in the short, medium and long term and help prevent future floods.

Md. Nazmul Hasan Chowdhury former Project Director of LGED during the initial design and drafting of the project and Md. Abdul Khalek, currently Project Director of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Mainstreaming Project (CRIMP) are serving as the focal persons for this project.