Staff Reporter :
Around 4.5 million slum dwellers out of a total of 5.0 million in the capital have no access to drinking water. They are also deprived of their basic rights to proper sanitation and sewerage services, experts said.
“There are about five million people in 3,400 slums in the capital. Of them, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) has given only 2,174 legal water supply connections in 375 slums,” DWASA Managing Director Taqsem A Khan has said.
Recently, the DWASA signed a MoU with NGO Forum for public health to improve the access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene promotion services in a coordinated way for the urban poor living in the slums in Dhaka and Narayanganj cities, he said.
“Actually, it is a very challenging job to ensure supply of safe water and sewerage services, including sanitation for the huge number of slum dwellers. There are some rules to get DWASA services. Now, we have decided to supply water and other facilities to slums through NGOs,” he also added.
Commercial Manager of DWASA Uttam Kumar Roy said it earned Tk12 lakh as revenue in the last month from slums. “We are still deprived of revenue earning from many slums as they have no legal connections,” he said.
Around 85,000 slum dwellers
are now getting DWASA services and safe water, he said.
According to sources, these low income communities have to pay money to get rationed water from slum leaders having political influence and doing brisk business using water stolen from DWASA supply lines. Each family in these slums has to pay at least Tk 900 a month to get the water.
Illegal water businesses of slum leaders with the help of some corrupt DWASA officials are depriving the slum dwellers to get drinking water, it was alleged.
Moreover, DWASA is also deprived of huge revenue earnings as these slums are depending on illegal water connections.
Experts opined that the government needs to take expeditious steps to ensure the wellbeing of slum dwellers by making sure they have free access to not only fresh water but also education, health, habitat, food and sanitation.
Most importantly, they said, the authorities need to take punitive measures against these unscrupulous slum leaders and corrupt DWASA officials who are engaged in illegal water supply business and thus robbing slum people of their hard earned money.
Conscious sections of society, in general, and democratically-oriented people, in particular, also need to raise their voices against this unholy nexus between the slum leaders having political influence and the corrupt DWASA officials, they further opined.
Around 4.5 million slum dwellers out of a total of 5.0 million in the capital have no access to drinking water. They are also deprived of their basic rights to proper sanitation and sewerage services, experts said.
“There are about five million people in 3,400 slums in the capital. Of them, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) has given only 2,174 legal water supply connections in 375 slums,” DWASA Managing Director Taqsem A Khan has said.
Recently, the DWASA signed a MoU with NGO Forum for public health to improve the access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene promotion services in a coordinated way for the urban poor living in the slums in Dhaka and Narayanganj cities, he said.
“Actually, it is a very challenging job to ensure supply of safe water and sewerage services, including sanitation for the huge number of slum dwellers. There are some rules to get DWASA services. Now, we have decided to supply water and other facilities to slums through NGOs,” he also added.
Commercial Manager of DWASA Uttam Kumar Roy said it earned Tk12 lakh as revenue in the last month from slums. “We are still deprived of revenue earning from many slums as they have no legal connections,” he said.
Around 85,000 slum dwellers
are now getting DWASA services and safe water, he said.
According to sources, these low income communities have to pay money to get rationed water from slum leaders having political influence and doing brisk business using water stolen from DWASA supply lines. Each family in these slums has to pay at least Tk 900 a month to get the water.
Illegal water businesses of slum leaders with the help of some corrupt DWASA officials are depriving the slum dwellers to get drinking water, it was alleged.
Moreover, DWASA is also deprived of huge revenue earnings as these slums are depending on illegal water connections.
Experts opined that the government needs to take expeditious steps to ensure the wellbeing of slum dwellers by making sure they have free access to not only fresh water but also education, health, habitat, food and sanitation.
Most importantly, they said, the authorities need to take punitive measures against these unscrupulous slum leaders and corrupt DWASA officials who are engaged in illegal water supply business and thus robbing slum people of their hard earned money.
Conscious sections of society, in general, and democratically-oriented people, in particular, also need to raise their voices against this unholy nexus between the slum leaders having political influence and the corrupt DWASA officials, they further opined.
