Through fishing and other regional activities, they have been contributing immensely to the country’s GDP, and their sacrifices and issues are no less than that of the people who live in the cities.
As such, it is extremely unfortunate and cause for alarm that most people living in coastal regions struggle to gather safe drinking water.
Around 73% of the population living in the coastal regions drink unsafe saline water. According to UNDP, although the permissible salinity level in drinking water is 1000mg per litre, people in coastal regions that were under surveillance consumed water with average salinity between 1427mg and 2406mg per litre. Many people spend more than two hours daily collecting drinking water, while people in more than 16% of households said they had to walk even more.
The fact that these people live in such harsh conditions while living in a country where running water is a thing is deplorable. Not only does this deprive them of many hours of the day they can use for their enrichment, but this props up a harsh reality under which the next generation will surely suffer.
This has to be fixed. Fresh water is a scarce resource all around the world, and if we can go back to practices of old where there were large lakes that utilized freshwater for every community, we could definitely improve the lives of these people, and instill good practices for the future.
Concerned authorities must immediately venture out to the ground and take necessary steps. People living in coastal regions are Bangladeshi as well and we are all citizens of Bangladesh, and for one to get to live a better life because of their wealth and luck is not the image of the equitable nation we want to create.