MEDIA report said Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has placed a proposal to hike water tariffs by 20 per cent again while it is doing nothing to improve the quality of dirty and stinky water in its pipelines. Residents of different areas said they could neither drink nor use the water in cooking or bathing. Many even fall sick at many places drinking this water. The issue of raising the water tariff came up for discussion in the board meeting on Monday and the proposal of price hike was placed on Wednesday.
We know that WASA raised water tariff in May last year by five percent without addressing water crisis. The health problem meanwhile became more acute amid lingering Covid-19 pandemic. Sarcastically it was the 14th tariff hike in last 13 years since Awami League came to power in 2009. In the meantime Dhaka WASA has increased water tariffs for residential use by 181 per cent from Tk 5.75 a unit in 2009 to Tk 15.18 in 2021 and to Tk 42 for commercial use, up from the previous prices of Tk 14.46 and Tk 40 respectively.
We are appalled by WASA’s mindless move to increase water tariff without going for improving the quality of service. It is unthinkable that water tariff has increased 181 percent over these years when there was enough time and opportunity to reduce losses. We would say there is no innovative system to fight losses. We wonder why WASA every year increases water tariff without going for measures to reduce the tariff. Need no mention that the management is highly inefficient and corrupt which almost every time remains busy in searching for ways to create unnecessary work for contractors for laying big underground pipelines or sewerage lines to share huge dividend. Its procurement business is highly rewarding and several times higher than real cost while field staff always present overtime bills that betrays imagination.
We are afraid households and businesses will fall apart if WASA hike tariff this way when people’s income is not multiplying. We would ask the government to be practical to demand accountability from WAA without asking for tariff rise. People can’t be treated as slaves only to bear heavy loads.
