The scarcity of potable water has increased significantly in the coastal district of Bagerhat in recent years for various reasons triggered by climate change. The rise in sea level, reduced rainfall, depletion of surface water bodies, and gradual increase in arsenic all impact the availability of potable water.
The government has repeatedly changed its strategy to solve this crisis by installing shallow tube wells, deep tube wells, solar-powered PSFs, and rainwater storage tanks. However, the drinking water crisis was not solved, and the coastal people want a permanent solution to this end.
The Department of Public Health Engineering and experts say that the drinking water crisis can be solved only through proper planning and public awareness. According to sources, in the 1980s, advertisements were aired on Bangladesh Television in collaboration with UNICEF to discourage the use of pond water. It was said, "Use tube well water for all purposes." When arsenic was found in these shallow tube wells in the 1990s, people were asked to stop using tube well water. Then the installation of deep tube wells began. However, the problem of drinking water has gradually become apparent in this district.
Currently, the sources of drinking water in Bagerhat district are deep tube wells, shallow tube wells, rainwater harvesting plants, PSF, community tube wells and reverse osmosis purifiers. These have been installed by government and private initiatives. Some of them have been successful, while some have failed.
According to the Department of Public Health Engineering, water from shallow tube wells in Bagerhat can no longer be used. Therefore, their installation has been stopped officially. Once a deep tube well is installed, it can be used for a long time. However, it cannot be successfully installed in most areas of the district. In some places, its water is also not suitable for use. Moreover, some deep tube wells are not used for various reasons including salinity.
Most of the PSFs built on the banks of ponds become useless due to a lack of supervision. This situation is created due to the lack of government supervision and lack of public awareness. Many also blame the substandard equipment provided by the supplier company for the situation.
In 155 ponds that were re-excavated by the government to solve the drinking water crisis, the influential people of the ruling party made the water unusable by cultivating rice in the name of the so-called lease.
In 2020, "Automatic Solar Water Purification Units" were built at a cost of Tk8 crore in Rampal, Mongla and coastal upazilas of Bagerhat funded by the Climate Change Trust Fund. But due to corruption by the contracting company, the coastal residents did not get any benefit of the project.
In this regard, Nur Alam Sheikh, Khulna region coordinator of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, said that the crisis of clean water has gradually become apparent. Therefore, a sustainable solution is now the need of the hour. By re-excavating ponds and digging ponds on government land, water can be stored and purified and supplied to every house through pipelines.
Jayanta Mallick, executive engineer of the Bagerhat Department of Public Health Engineering, said that for various reasons, all the steps taken by the government for clean water have not been successful. First of all, public awareness is needed to solve the drinking water crisis in Bagerhat. Deep tube wells can be installed as well, ponds can be re-excavated and water can be purified through PSF. The demand can be met by building reverse osmosis plants in communities, growth centers, and market areas to purify water. However, these are expensive methods, he added.
He, however, batted for rainwater harvesting and said a family of five persons can live on harvested water throughout the year.
