Editorial
Ensuring safe drinking water
Issue calls for priority handling
Against the backdrop of World Water Day, it is a good opportunity to dwell on the crisis that the citizens regularly face in terms of supply of pure drinking water. There is, first, the unplanned urbanisation putting water supply at risk for people as the basic amenity has not kept pace with expansion of the city.
And then comes the quality of water. With reports frequently coming in regarding contaminated water, even from the supply provided by WASA, just how endangered citizens' lives have become. We have been informed that people who inhabit the area around Rajarbagh police station have lately been queuing up at night for a bottle of potable water. The question is: what are the authorities at WASA doing to handle this problem? The argument WASA makes is that the river water that is purified before it can be supplied to citizens is so contaminated that it requires much more than the normal water treatment facilities. The point cannot be ignored and must be dealt with on a priority basis. The water of the Sitalakhya and the Meghna is at this point too tainted by the presence of algae and other elements, which requires huge efforts to be purified.
WASA officials would have us know that the bad odour in the water is the result of the treatment of the water and is safe for use. That is not convincing enough. It may be that the water is safe to drink, but can we blame people for staying away from it because they are put off by the smell of it? Measures are thus needed to ensure that the odour does not remain in the water. Finally, WASA tells us that it will take ten years for pure drinking water to be supplied to the urban areas. That period must be shortened, for obvious reasons.
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