World Water Day: Groundwater not being protected

Bargun is a village in Jhilim union of Chapainawabganj sadar upazila. The village falls is part of the Barind tract. This region faces acute water crisis during the dry season. Groundwater depletes and tube wells become defunct in many areas. Submersible pumps are used to extract water. This arrangement is for potable water only. But, in Bargun, water from the submersible pumps is used to irrigate agricultural fields as well.

Lutful Hassan, chairman of Jhilim union parishad (UP) said the submersible pumps were set up at the initiative of the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) with the support of local people. He said, “Almost in every village, I have seen the drinking water of submersible pumps being used not only on agro lands but also in ponds for fish farming.”

Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan, professor of the department of geology and mining at Rajshahi University, has carried on several researches on groundwater of the Barind region. He said, in actuality, these committees do not have the technical data required for deciding how much water can be collected from a particular area in their hands. They lack the practical knowhow needed to provide services.

Although the government has various water-related agencies there is no coordination among them. There is no separate institute dedicated to groundwater management, he added.

An initiative was taken to set up a district organisation on ground water management about two years back, but was halted. Under such circumstances World Water Day is being observed today (Tuesday). The theme of the day this year is ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’.

The Water Development Board (WDB) monitors the rise and depletion of the ground water level through 1,272 tube wells, set all over the country. According to WDB, water used to be extracted in Dhaka with 130 tube wells only in the 1990s. Then water could be found at the depth of 22.5 metres. The number of tube wells soared to 423 in 2005 and water level receded to 54 metres depth. In 2020, tube wells have crossed the bar of 800 in number while water level lowered further to 74 metres.

The use of water in irrigation is increasing with time. Based on Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), there are 5.5 million (55 lakh) hectares of land under the coverage of irrigation facility. Groundwater is the source of almost 75 per cent of the water used in irrigation during dry Boro season.

It is seen that, the number of tube wells set up for irrigation was 133 thousands and 800 (1 lakh 33 thousand and 800) in 1985. That number went up to 1.6 million (16 lakh) in the year 2019. The ground water level in the Barind tract is depleting by a foot every year. Whereas, the average rate of depletion was only half a foot just a decade ago.

DPHE works to supply water in villages and in areas beyond the borders of big cities including Dhaka. There are five WASAs for Dhaka and four other mega cities. These two agencies act under Local Government Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) ministry. WDB observes and analyses the water level while, BADC works on irrigation.

Water supplying agencies like DPHE, BADC and WASA have no responsibility of protecting groundwater. But, LGRD minister Tajul Islam told Prothom Alo, “The issue of saving groundwater is on our mind. And we have set a goal of collecting 70 per cent of the water required by Dhaka WASA from surface sources by 2030.”

Delwar Hossain, director general, Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO) however said, WASA is not held accountable to anyone. Coordination among all other agencies related to water is essential, he added.

The lack of coordination among the government agencies regarding water is clear, even in the official documents. That is why the government has a plan of forming a separate organisation for the protection of groundwater as well. In this regard, Ministry of Water Resources had sent a letter to WDB in November of 2020, asking for a proposal to form a separate organisation and to reform the Water Act, 2013. They finished the report on this in December of the same year. But, after that there were no more discussions of the topic.

* This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Nourin Ahmed Monisha