Water crisis grips some Dhaka city pockets

Acknowledging that there is a water crisis in some pockets of the capital, including those in Rampura, Moghbazar and Jatrabari, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) yesterday said they were doing their best to solve the problem.

Expressing regret for the sufferings, Dhaka Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan, at a press conference at his office, said this usually happened as the water level drops in the dry season and one or two percent of Dhaka Wasa's tube-wells require either repairs or renovation.

The solution lied in using surface water and Dhaka Wasa plans on providing 70 to 75 percent of its supplies from it by 2020, he said. The situation prevailed for a certain period in some areas, especially Old Dhaka, for the absence of reservoirs, said one of the deputy managing directors of Dhaka Wasa, SDM Quamrul Alam Chowdhury.

Water is being provided to the affected areas through lorries and, if the lanes are narrow, rickshaw-vans, he said, adding that dependence on surface sources must be increased as early as possible since attaining land for deep tube-wells was a "big challenge".

Currently, Dhaka Wasa can produce 245 crore litres of water daily, 78 percent of which comes from ground water through 713 deep tube-wells and 22 percent from surface water through five water treatment plants.

Each year, the groundwater level in the central area of the capital is dropping by one to three metres due to excessive extraction, said a Wasa official. He said new treatment plants would be set up at Gandhabpur of Rupganj, Jasaldi in Mawa and Sayedabad phase-III in Dhaka, capable of producing 140 crore litres of water per day.