Editorial
Concerns about city's receding water table
Measures such as use of surface water needed to diversify sources and avert environmental hazards like quake
Falling water table below the capital city has reached such an alarming proportion that the prime minister the other day warned the nation in parliament saying that it is facing the threat from earthquake as its fallout.
In fact, experts, too, have been issuing warning in a similar tone since long that due to continuous withdrawal of groundwater for drinking and municipal purposes by the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), the recharging of the aquifers adequately from sources like rainwater is becoming difficult. As a consequence of this indiscriminate withdrawal of water, the natural reservoirs of water underground are becoming hollow. All these factors militate against the appropriate geohydrological balance of the city and its surrounding areas. And so long as this trend of dewatering of the city's underground continues in this manner, of the many bad consequences it poses, earthquake remains a very potential one.
The only way to save the city from such an impending catastrophe is to drastically cut the use of groundwater so that the underground aquifers may cope and recharge themselves. Reassuringly, the prime minister has also shown an alternative way to avert the looming danger through diversifying the use of water.
At this stage, it would be germane to point out that it is not just the capital city, but the whole nation is engaged in depleting the groundwater sources, especially for use in agriculture with the help of deep tube wells. So, as it is in the case of the capital city, the issue of using surface water is equally applicable for the whole population. Moreover, with the tube-wells getting contaminated with arsenic in increasing number, the case for looking for safe drinking water for the rest of the population from the existing surface water sources is also getting stronger by the day.
The government's different schemes to supply Dhaka with treated surface water from the river Padma and other sources will certainly go a long way in meeting the city's ever-growing demand for water as well as protecting it from the environmental hazards as forewarned by the prime minister. Faced with these predicaments, it is, therefore, expected that the government would widen its plans for surface water use further so that the entire nation could be protected from the hazards of drinking arsenic-poisoned water, while at the same time the groundwater tables could be protected against the dangers that their indiscriminate withdrawals pose.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
Shortage of nurses an urgent crisis
4 hour(s) ago
Editorial
India’s ‘push-in’ strategy violates international law
20 June 2026, 18:08 PM
Editorial
Why build roads through a reserved forest?
20 June 2026, 13:00 PM
Editorial
An alarming report on children’s exposure to climate risks
19 June 2026, 19:07 PM
Editorial
Why is safe water inaccessible for millions despite rising spending?
19 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
Comments