Drinking water crisis has soared in Rajshahi city. The water being supplied is now dirty and has a foul smell.
Added to the crisis there is a longstanding shortage of water as Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) says it supplies a bit more than a half of the total water demand here.
Wasa says there is a demand for 11, 80, 77,000 litres of water while it is currently supplying only 6, 26, 37,000 littres of water through 76 deep tube-wells every day, meeting only 67% of the water demand.
The mercury has been hovering above 40 degrees for the last week.
A housewife, Momena Begum, who lives in Talaimari Shaheed Minar area, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “I have been fetching water from a faraway place for a week because the water being supplied here is muddy and it reeks.
“I went to get water from the usual place this morning here, but returned frustrated and had to get water from almost half a kilometre away.”
Like her, many others have been fetching drinking water from a faraway places in the city.
The pictures is not different in the city’s suburbs – Bhadra, Darikharbona and court area – yesterday as people there also complain about the water supplied there.
A Wasa official, seeking anonymity, tells the Dhaka Tribune: “Water crisis is longstanding here. It has worsened as water cannot be pumped as before, because the water table has dropped dramatically with the beginning of Summer in the city.”
Shaheed Kamruzzaman Water Treatment Plant has stopped because of the extremely shallow water levels in the rivers. Moreover, four more plants are not coming to any use as they have not been repaired since they broke down 10 years ago.”
Rajshahi city Wasa Secretary Shafiqul Islam says, “Water can be muddy due to excessive iron or due to a breakdown of any pipe in the ground. So, I cannot say anything about it without seeing the water for myself.”
City Wasa Caretaker Engineer Parvej Mahmud says, “The Wasa has decided to set up 20 more deep tube-wells to meet the demand of water here. Of them, 10 tube-wells have already been installed. Efforts are on in full swing to meet the total water demand here.”
