AMIDST frequent power cuts and summer heat, water supply to Dhaka city dwellers has dropped drastically in recent weeks adding to the suffering to people. Moreover, water supply by WASA in many areas of the city continued to be unusable with foul-smell. The stinky water is allegedly spreading waterborne diseases and we believe it is peak time to ensure regular water supply to city dwellers when the summer heat is looming big danger to public life.
A news item in a daily on Tuesday said people living in most part of the old city are suffering from acute water shortage and dirty water in many supply lines at other places is causing problem for drinking water. Irregular water supply is causing problems for washing household materials and delaying cooking. People are failing to take bath to attend office and workplaces in time; students are failing to go to schools and colleges missing teaching schedules
Dhaka city requires 2.2 billion liters water per a day, but only 1.9 to 2 billion liters are produced. Dhaka WASA obtains most of its water from overexploited underground aquifers. Power outages and drop in water table during dry season have already reduced water extraction from April adding to reduced water supply to meet city demands. In some parts of the city, people are not getting water for days together. The WASA authorities are blaming shortage of underground water and also technical problems in pumps at many places. The situation has not improved despite repeated assurances and it only exposes the inefficiency and mismanagement of the utility provider with more earth digging and such other disruptions in supply lines at many places. There is not anybody to take the accountability of resolving the crisis in short time. Meanwhile public health risks to city dwellers are taking an endemic form from shortage of water supply and mainly for shortage of pure drinking water.
The city now witnesses about 2 million tonnes of untreated waste every day dumped into rivers, which in turn pollute their distributaries affecting public life. Studies show that just one liter of waste is sufficient to pollute eight liters of fresh water. We all know diarrhoea spread in summer in the cities in Bangladesh in absence of proper urbanization and sewerage dumping. These problems need closer administrative attention under sensible political leadership. But there is hardly any decisive step at work to make city life easy.
In Dhaka city, tap water is not even suitable for drinking. Experts believe Dhaka needs a more socially inclusive water policy and its management and only a responsive WASA management can ensure regular water supply to city dwellers. The government should urge two City Corporations and Dhaka-WASA to do something effectively that can resolve the water crisis in summer before it hits public life at its worst.
