Residents in different areas of the capital are reportedly being forced to purchase bottled water to fulfil their drinking needs, as Dhaka Wasa authorities have allegedly been supplying “foul smelling” and “dirty” water during recent weeks.
People living in different areas in Taltola, Shamim Sharani, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Kazipara, Ibrahimpur, Farmgate, Rajabazar, Tejkunipara, Tejturi Bazar, Shyamoli, Mohammadpur, and Kalyanpur complained that they were getting smelly and dirty water, unsuitable for human consumption, from the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa).
The city dwellers also alleged that state-owned agency Wasa had yet to take any proper step to resolve the problem, despite being informed of the crisis.
Jannatun Nahar, a resident of South Shewrapara, said the water supplied by Wasa has been containing a bad smell for the last five days.
“We cannot drink, take a bath or cannot cook using the filthy water supplied by Wasa. The body is itching and rough after bathing in the water,” she said, adding: “This is not the first time this problem has occurred. Earlier, we faced the same problem, but authorities had not taken any sustainable step to solve it.”
Mustafizur Rahman, a resident of West Rajabazar, said people in the area could not collect fresh drinking water from the Wasa supply lines, as water in the area’s pipes get contaminated.
Shamim, a caretaker of a house in Shamim Sharani, echoed Jannatun, saying: “The situation has worsened as the water could not be used for any household work in the last week. Many residents in the area are purchasing bottled water because of the bad smell and dirt in Wasa’s water,” he added.
Rafiqul Islam, pump operator of the Dhaka Wasa’s southwest Shewrapara pump, told the Dhaka Tribune: “There is no problem in our pump water. The smelly water came from Wasa’s Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant through the main pipeline.
“The treatment plant’s water may include some odour because of the mixing of chemical with the river water for purification,” he said.
SDM Kamrul Alam Chowdhury, deputy managing director (additional charge) of cooperation and maintenance of Dhaka Wasa, however denied that the supplied water had any bad smell.
“From last week, we have started to supply treatment plant water to different areas in Mirpur zone. The resident of those areas are not used to drinking the treatment plant water, because we had supplied them pump water earlier,” he said.
However, Kamrul said water from the Sayedabad Treatment Plant might have a slight smell because of the presence of chlorine. He also said the problem might also be caused by leaks in pipelines, with filthy water from open road drains becoming mixed with the water in the pipe through the leaks.
The senior Wasa official assured that pipelines would be checked for leaks and steps would be taken to remedy the situation.
Answering a different query, he said Wasa would continue to supply the areas with water from the treatment plant. Water crisis is common in Dhaka during summer, as its demand goes up during the period.
Seeking anonymity, a Wasa official said falling groundwater levels has repeatedly caused Wasa to fail in providing adequate water supply during the dry season, while dependency on surface water has also risen over the years.
The official also claimed that the quality of the water from Wasa’s treatment plants was unlikely to improve before monsoon, as the water of the rivers Buriganga and Shitalakkhya was highly polluted.