Equal distribution of water is essential in Barind region

The ground water level in the country is declining. And the crisis is acute in the Barind region. It is becoming difficult to find drinking water in this region. Water cannot be found even for faring. So, equal distribution of the water left in Barind region has to be ensured.

These issues came up in a roundtable titled ‘Water Security for Future: Increasing Resilience in Barind Region’. Prothom Alo, BRAC and WaterAid jointly organised the roundtable at Crowne Plaza in capital’s Gulshan-2 on Monday.

Speakers at the roundtable stated that the ground water level is receding in the Barind region. Therefore to deal with this crisis the use of surface water has to be increased in that region.

In the roundtable, director general of Water Resources Planning Organisation, Md Rezaul Maksud Jahedi said the rules and regulations that are there in the country for water security, are excellent. But there are some issues with their implementation.

Rezaul Maksud Jahedi also mentioned that the ground water level in eight upazilas of Barind region is in a very bad shape, 41 per cent of the people there are not getting drinking water.

He said that drinking water security is more crucial than food security in the Barind area. A canal should be conserved in each upazila, which can be used for domestic purposes.

He emphasised on protecting ground water in Barind region.

Director of the Ground Water Hydrology Directorate under Bangladesh Water Development Board, Anwar Zahid was present in the event. Presenting research data, he said that the ground water level is permanently decreasing in almost two-thirds of the areas of Bangladesh.

In other words, the water level is not returning to the state it is supposed to during the monsoon. The water level has receded by 35 to 40 metres there. So, surface water should be used more in the Barind region. In addition to that, we have to also opt for the crops that can be grown with less water, he added.

Country Director of WaterAid Bangladesh Hasin Jahan said just as the Barind authority is extracting water for farming, water is also being extracted privately.

Apart from cultivation, the Barind authorities also provide drinking water to their customers. But those who are poor, who cannot buy irrigation water, cannot buy drinking water either. So, the relatively poor people are not getting water, she added.

Director of climate change, urban development and disaster risk management programme at BRAC, Md Liakath Ali believes just as there are natural causes there are mismanagement as well behind the decline in ground water level.

He said those who supply water in Barind region are creating disorder. They don’t supply water despite taking money. They have the people of ethnic minority cornered there. Work needs to be done in this field.

Liakath Ali feels that agriculture in the Barind region cannot be excluded altogether, but there has to be a change in the type of it. Otherwise, a food security crisis will be created there, he added.

Bangladesh Open University Vice-Chancellor Professor Mahbooba Nasreen said that there is no alternative to using surface water. Rainfall has decreased due to climate change. Even so, what happens is not retained. You have to pay attention to this.

Pro vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Open University, professor Mahbuba Nasreen said there’s no alternative to using surface water. Rainfall has declined due to climate change. Still the amount of rainfall there is, is not being stored. This needs to be focused on.

Professor Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed of the Geology department at Dhaka University said that maximum amount of the water is being extracted for agriculture in this region, which has no control over it.

Executive director of the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services, Malik Fida A Khan said there is an acute crisis of drinking water in the Barind region. In this situation, the priority should be given on drinking water first and then cultivation.

Plus, a change must be brought about in the farming practices in this region. A major portion of the water is wasted on farming. If this continues, no drinking water will be left at some point, he added.

Mentioning that more than 15,000 deep tube-wells have been installed in the Barind region, professor Nehreen Majed of the civil engineering department at the University of Asia Pacific said that women and children are the main sufferers of the water crisis there.

They are in a health hazard. She talked of using the experience from those who have been surviving even in this hard reality. The technology of storing rainwater is not getting popular there, said professor Nehreen.

Director of non-government organisation DASCOH Jahangir Alam Khan said around 100,000 people of the ethnic minority reside in the areas of the Barind region where the water crisis is the severest.

And these people are directly involved in agriculture. Women work in the fields there and cannot go to work if they have to fetch water. As a result, they are gradually becoming poorer, he added.

Director of IDP and WASH at BRAC Hossain Ishrath Adib said as much water is there in the Barind region should be ensured for all.

A documentary on the water crisis in the Barind region was presented in the roundtable moderated by Prothom Alo assistant editor Firoz Choudhury.