Safe to drink

Arsenic levels in our water affect some 20 million Bangladeshis. It is, then, worthy of applause that Minhaj Chowdhury, through dedication and innovative thinking, has achieved a major breakthrough in making our drinking water safe for all. Safe drinking water should be a basic right for everyone, but sadly, it is not so easy to come by in Bangladesh -- and high arsenic levels are making people seriously sick, from giving them cancer, skin lesions, and a host of other diseases. Recognised by Unicef, WaterAid, and others, Minhaj’s Drinkwell model has proved its worth and merit to the world. He recently won the Forbes “Under 30 Impact Challenge,” a well-deserved recognition, for his truly ingenious model. Minhaj believes the arsenic problem is solvable, and we share his optimisim -- Drinkwell’s technology effectively cuts down the arsenic level below World Health Organisation threshold levels, and the enterprise aims to make the arsenic problem go away by 2030. The Drinkwell team now faces a number of steep challenges in the goal to do good, and we hope the government backs them up in their efforts. Dhaka is an overcrowded metropolis where some four million people do not have access to clean water. Therefore, it is hard to think of a nobler and more worthy goal than the availability clean, safe water for the people. One of the indicators of a developed nation is the quality of the water that comes out of the tap. As we move forward in our development journey, the commitment to ensuring a clean and safe water supply should be high up on our agenda.