In an official notification issued on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, the Ministry of Public Administration appointed Additional Secretary Md Moniruzzaman as the new Managing Director of the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA). Moniruzzaman, who previously served as an Additional Secretary attached to the Local Government Division, takes the helm of an institution heavily weighed down by systemic inefficiency, governance issues, and persistent public dissatisfaction over water quality.
His appointment marks the seventh leadership change at the top of the capital’s water utility since the fall of the Awami League administration on 5 August 2024. For nearly fifteen years prior to the political transition, DWASA was headed by Engineer Tashsim A Khan, whose controversial tenure ended when he submitted his resignation on 14 August 2024. Following his departure, the utility entered an unprecedented phase of administrative volatility, defined by rapid successions, temporary caretakers, and legal disputes over executive authority.
Initially, Senior Deputy Managing Director A K M Shahid Uddin assumed acting charges, though his appointment was quickly embroiled in legal challenges. To stabilize the authority, the government instructed Md Shahjahan Miah to take over as the first formal interim head on 15 August 2024, a position he held for over fourteen months until late October 2025.
The instability deepened in late 2025 and early 2026. Md Abdus Salam Bepari was appointed as the regular Managing Director on 11 November 2025, but his term was cut short by growing controversy and allegations that led to his resignation on 8 March 2026. Local Government Division Additional Secretary Muha. Moniruzzaman was given temporary additional charge for a single day on 9 March 2026, before Md Aminul Islam took over on deputation on 10 March 2026. Although Islam was given a one-year mandate, his tenure lasted just over five months until his sudden transfer to serve as Director General of the National Institute of Local Government.
Alongside these formal appointments, senior ministry officials and designated administrators—including representatives from the Dhaka South City Corporation—were repeatedly brought in on an interim basis during administrative gaps to oversee filing procedures and emergency operations, most notably during transitional periods in May 2025.
This persistent leadership vacuum comes at a challenging time for Dhaka’s metropolitan infrastructure. Urban planning experts and consumer rights groups have voiced growing concern that frequent changes at the executive level stall critical modernization projects, delay pipeline maintenance, and severely compromise long-term service delivery for millions of city residents.
