The underground water level has gone down in Jhinakhoir village of Tanore Union of Rajshahi as no tubewells in the village get a single drop of water, the residents often drink pond water due to thirst.
Agustin Gomez, a resident of the village, said, “Drinking water has to be brought from a deep well in the agricultural land several miles away. It is not always possible. People drink pond water to save life. The village is getting deserted just for water. Apart from that, there is no crop except Aman paddy. Now there are only 22 houses left in this village.”
The shortage of clean water is not only in Barendra region, but it has spread across the coast and mountains and has affected the capital as well. People are getting sick by drinking contaminated water. Ground water level is falling. Ground water level is dropping by 10 feet per year.
Untreated industrial effluents are being dumped directly into rivers. The level of river pollution is increasing. Salt water is flowing upstream due to climate change. There is no visible initiative to conserve rain water. The adverse effects of global warming, climate change, sea level rise have gradually become evident in Bangladesh. All in all, access to clean water has become a challenge.
Mujibur Rahman, a water expert and professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET) told Bangladesh Pratidin, “There is no plan for water management in the capital. Even 20 years ago, I saw that water supply was going on in crisis management, the situation is still the same. The quantity of water production has increased but the quality has not increased. In many places there is no water movement, there are holes in the connection lines.”
“Waste is being dumped into the surrounding water bodies through the sewage connection drains. Water is being brought from Padma-Meghna by polluting the good water around itself. This increases the cost of water production. This additional cost is being pushed on the shoulder of the consumer by increasing the price of water. But Shitalaksha water near Dhaka was one of the purest water reservoirs in the world. Shitalaksha has been polluted by continuous dumping of waste. If this continues, we will face a severe water crisis in the coming days,” he added.
“The daily water demand in the capital is 245-250 crore litres. Dhaka Wasa has a water supply capacity of 275 crore litres. WASA meets the water needs of the capital's residents by pumping underground water through five water treatment plants and deep tube wells.
66 per cent of this water is underground and 34 per cent of river water is purified and made usable. With the arrival of the dry season, water shortage has started in some parts of the capital. The crisis becomes more pronounced when the water pump breaks down. Water is supplied to Wasar's car, but it is insufficient. As the water supplied by Wasa was not potable, the townspeople collected it and boiled it for drinking.
Another area of groundwater consumption in the country is irrigation of agricultural land. About 73.44 per cent of the total cultivated land is irrigated by groundwater and the remaining 26.56 per cent by surface water. Arsenic levels in groundwater are rising due to over-extraction, lowering groundwater levels, increasing risk.
Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed, professor, Department of Geology, University of Dhaka said, “According to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, safe water should reach 100% of people by 2030.”
“But safe water has reached 59 per cent people in the country. Safe water is not easily available in remote areas, rural areas and urban slums. Water contains bacteria, arsenic and salinity. In order to meet the SDG target, the capacity for safe water needs to be increased at least four times now,” he added.
@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on April 01 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan.
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