City Desk :
Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) is implementing a around Taka 32.19 crore project to ensure safe drinking water for 1.73 lakh people specially in the drought-prone Barind area, an official said.
The three-year project titled “Community-based Water Supply in Lower Underground Water-level Areas in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts” is being implemented in 59 Unions of 12 Upazilas, said SM Shamim Ahmed, Superintending Engineer of DPHE and Director of the project.
A total of 865 submersible pumps are being installed in all the project areas to bring 34,600 households under the water supply coverage by around June, 2021.
Platforms with overhead tanks are being attached to each of the submersible pumps. There will be eight points in each of the tanks. At least five families will get water supply from each of the points through pvc pipelines.
The beneficiary people will be given responsibility to proper maintain and function of the infrastructures routinely.
Engineer Shamim said the initiative has been taken to ensure round-the-year drinking water supply for the poor and vulnerable villagers, where power supply is available.
He added that 850 pumps will be operated by electricity while solar panels will be installed to operate 50 other pumps in the villages which still remain beyond the power supply network.
Lutfor Haider Rashid, Chairman of Tanore Upazila Parishad, said there is a shortage of drinking water in the region during the dry season and the problem has become acute for the last couple of years.
The existing shallow water technologies become ineffective currently and demand for deep tube-wells has increased in the area due to rapid decline of groundwater along with arsenic contamination in shallow aquifers in many areas, he said.
He said villagers cannot extract groundwater as the water level goes down abnormally during every dry season.
Professor Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan of Department of Geology and Mining in Rajshahi University said the existing adverse impact of climate change is putting local people into trouble since the hand-driven tube-wells are not functioning here in dry season.
The changed climatic condition has been posing a serious threat to the overall public health in the vast Barind tract, especially Tanore and Godagari upazilas in Rajshahi, Nachole and Gomostapur upazilas in Chapainawabganj and Porsha, Shapahar and Niamatpur upazilas in Naogaon districts.
Prof Sarwar Jahan, however, said the scheme will play a vital role to improve health condition of the beneficiary people through expansion and development of the community-based water supply system that will supplement the government efforts of achieving the sustainable development goals.
He said poor and underprivileged communities in the drought-hit area will get safe drinking water through the project.
He added that the initiatives will contribute a lot to reduce the acute crisis of drinking water in the drought-prone Barind area.
Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) is implementing a around Taka 32.19 crore project to ensure safe drinking water for 1.73 lakh people specially in the drought-prone Barind area, an official said.
The three-year project titled “Community-based Water Supply in Lower Underground Water-level Areas in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts” is being implemented in 59 Unions of 12 Upazilas, said SM Shamim Ahmed, Superintending Engineer of DPHE and Director of the project.
A total of 865 submersible pumps are being installed in all the project areas to bring 34,600 households under the water supply coverage by around June, 2021.
Platforms with overhead tanks are being attached to each of the submersible pumps. There will be eight points in each of the tanks. At least five families will get water supply from each of the points through pvc pipelines.
The beneficiary people will be given responsibility to proper maintain and function of the infrastructures routinely.
Engineer Shamim said the initiative has been taken to ensure round-the-year drinking water supply for the poor and vulnerable villagers, where power supply is available.
He added that 850 pumps will be operated by electricity while solar panels will be installed to operate 50 other pumps in the villages which still remain beyond the power supply network.
Lutfor Haider Rashid, Chairman of Tanore Upazila Parishad, said there is a shortage of drinking water in the region during the dry season and the problem has become acute for the last couple of years.
The existing shallow water technologies become ineffective currently and demand for deep tube-wells has increased in the area due to rapid decline of groundwater along with arsenic contamination in shallow aquifers in many areas, he said.
He said villagers cannot extract groundwater as the water level goes down abnormally during every dry season.
Professor Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan of Department of Geology and Mining in Rajshahi University said the existing adverse impact of climate change is putting local people into trouble since the hand-driven tube-wells are not functioning here in dry season.
The changed climatic condition has been posing a serious threat to the overall public health in the vast Barind tract, especially Tanore and Godagari upazilas in Rajshahi, Nachole and Gomostapur upazilas in Chapainawabganj and Porsha, Shapahar and Niamatpur upazilas in Naogaon districts.
Prof Sarwar Jahan, however, said the scheme will play a vital role to improve health condition of the beneficiary people through expansion and development of the community-based water supply system that will supplement the government efforts of achieving the sustainable development goals.
He said poor and underprivileged communities in the drought-hit area will get safe drinking water through the project.
He added that the initiatives will contribute a lot to reduce the acute crisis of drinking water in the drought-prone Barind area.
