Reza Mahmud :
Over flooded streets after rainfall in the capital Dhaka is a common scenario. But after hours when the rain water disappeared through drains, a worst ugly view will be depicted from remaining human faeces here and there.
Besides, the floating faeces in the city’s drains are creating drastic environmental hazardous in the capital for long as 80 percent of human stools in the capital from 2.50 crore people remain untreated.
In these circumstances, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), responsible to facilitate Sewage treatments, has took a Master Plan in 2011 to bring the whole capital city under coverage of its sewage treatment facilities.
Under the master plan, the WASA stated that it would modernize the lone sewage treatment plants at Pagla, Narayangonj and to be established four more STPs at Dasherkandi, Uttara, Mirpur and Rayerbazar.
Firstly, the authorities of WASA has said that under the master plan, all the sewage will be treated by 2025, but later it has expanded the plan by 2030, but urban experts are not optimistic about completion of the STPs in the extended plan because construction work has been started at Dasherkandi plant only so far.
Meanwhile, WASA Managing Director Engineer Taqsem A Khan told The New Nation, “Under this plan, Wasa will establish four new STP in Dasherkandi, Uttara, Mirpur and Rayerbazar and also upgrade Pagla plant to increase its treatment capacity.”
The MD said, World Bank has granted 300 million dollar for Dasherkandi plant and ensured 300 million more dollar for the rehabilitation work at Pagla plant.He said, the work of Dasherkandi STP will be completed by June 2022 with the capacity of treating 500 million liters sewage every day.
Dasherkandi STP will cover capital’s Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Badda, Aftabnagar, Hatirjheel, Tejgaon and adjacent area’s sewage, he added.
But he failed to say about detailed plan of establishing Mirpur, Uttara and Rayerbazar STPs.
Sources said, the WASA is unable to treat about 80 percent of the 600 million liters of sewage that city produces every day. “We have capacity to treat only 20 percent sewages in the city. We acknowledge that it is not acceptable for a modern city like Dhaka and it has no capacity to cover almost 80 percent of its sewerage waste.”
“But there are truths behind the matter. Huge money is needed to install sewerage system in the 100 percent areas of Dhaka while donors so far were providing only water supply sectors loan,” he said.
Of 80 percent untreated waste, five percent (30 million liters) of the sewage are being contained by the home owners at their septic tanks.
Some house owners link their sewage pipes directly to the drains despite having sewerage lines which are also liable to the rivers and environment pollution in many areas. According to WASA, capital’s Uttara, Mirpur, a large portion of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Gandaria, Sutrapur, Jatrabari, Mohammadpur, Banasree, Aftabnagar, Badda, Tejgaon, Basabo, Motijheel, Malibagh, Segunbagicha, Moghbazar, Donia and Shampur and many more areas are out of sewerage lines.
Sources said, the remaining sewage water ends up in surrounding rivers of Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkha and canals and water reservoirs severely polluting the environment. According to Wasa, Pagla Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is the lone installation for the capital’s 1.8 crore peoples sewage.
It is containing only 20 percent of the waste amounting 120 million liters sewerage waste per day.
Urban Specialist and Architect Iqbal Habib told The New Nation,”The Wasa left 80 percent sewage untreated and let the 450 million liters human faeces to pollute rivers and our surrounding environment every day seriously.”
It is totally an unforgivable failure of the Wasa that it failed to establish sewerage systems for the 80 percent areas of a modern city like Dhaka, he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Adil Mohammad Khan, Urban Specialist and General Secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners told The New Nation, “There is no feasibility tests done by the WASA that how can it construct pipe lines for taking the sewages to the planned plants. It must be a huge work to construct those connection lines setting pipes in such a mega city where skyrocketed buildings and other infrastructures are already showing that it is not easy task.”
He said the WASA’s master plan is merely a ‘good wish’ and not more than that because there are no signs of implementation of such serious work.
