Residents of five out of seven upazilas in Khulna are facing acute crisis of drinking water as a good number of ponds have dried up in the locality for lack of rainfall.
The district administration have excavate 76 water reservoirs while 52 of them have remained inoperative for long. Apart from these, two desalination plants out of nine have remained out of order.
As water level of these ponds have fallen, people of these localities have to drink water containing mud which is causing different types of water-born diseases, including diarrhoea and dysentery.
Abdur Rahim Sana, a resident of Khewna village in Amadi union, said residents of Dakshin Kheuna, Dosbaria, Bejpara and Uttor Kheuna villages were not getting pure drinking water due to fall in water level of these water.
Generally, people of the coastal area depend on water of pond instead of deep tube well due to intrusion of salinity in these tube well s’ water.
Monwara Begun, who came to fetch water from Kheuna cyclone centre yesterday, told the Dhaka Tribune that she had to walk one kilometre every day to fetch water.
“Although we use purifier to make water drinkable, we often fall sick drinking pond water,” she said.
Ruhit Boron Roy, assistant health inspector of Koira upazila, told the Dhaka Tribune that about 300 people had been infected with diarrhoea recently. A total of 22,000 people received treatment from upazila health complex after being affected with water-borne diseases and 11,000 of them were children.
Ismail Hossain, a resident of Mosjidkur area, said sea water flooded their land twice a day as many parts of river embankment remained collapsed for long leading to increasing salinity in the soil.
Amirul Islam and Masum Billah said people had to pay Tk0.50 for one litre water. One plant has the capability to supply 8,000 litre water while the demand of water is much higher than it.
Amir Ali, chairman of Amadi union, told the Dhaka Tribune that 30,000 people were facing acute water crisis in his locality.
He said the government should take steps to excavate ponds of the locality.
Syed Enamul Kabir, upazila nirbahi officer, said the district administration had taken an initiative under Food for Work project to dig 33 ponds in the locality.
