Water crisis threatens life as natural sources dwindle

There should be no crisis of drinking water in riverine Bangladesh where there is heavy rainfall during the monsoons. However, there is an onset of water crisis in various places of the country, especially during the dry season.

Rampant use of groundwater and blocking of natural sources are mainly causing this water crisis. The bitter truth is that we are destroying the future for temporary gain. Particularly, Dhaka city has a daily water demand of 2.2 million (22 lakh) cubic feet and most of it comes from groundwater. If the demand water for Dhaka residents was met from surface water, the future generation would have been somewhat safe. Besides, huge groundwater is extracted by irrigation machines because of modern cultivation methods in agriculture and groundwater is depleted more.

All areas of Bangladesh more or less face crisis of drinking water, but the crisis is much deeper in southern and hilly regions. Rise in water salinity makes it difficult to drink water in the southern region. Previously, ponds were excavated to preserve fresh water, but the scope for that is rare now. Currently, 8 million (80 lakh) people are at the most risk of natural calamities in the southern region. Researchers predict the figure may reach 13.5 million (1.35 crore) by 2050. On the other hand, hilly people face crisis of water almost throughout the entire year. Hilly streams and waterfalls were the sources of drinking water there, but a group of people from the plain land are destroying hills and forests in the name of development. This is not only ruining the sources of the hill people’s drinking water but also endangers their lives.

A crisis of water can be expected in the country with deserts and droughts. But why will there be a crisis of water in a country where there are so many sources of natural water like rivers, streams, haors, wetlands, canals and channels? Our flawed development plans and poor management are the main reason for this. Agencies including Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Chattogram WASA, which meet the water demands for huge a population, don’t have any long-term plans to resolve the problem. They can’t implement their existing short and mid-term plans either. For many years, we have been hearing that Dhaka WASA will increase the supply of water from the surface to reduce pressure on groundwater. Their words hardly match their action. The water level has dropped dangerously in Dhaka city because of groundwater usage.

River water from upstream and rain are the main sources of surface water. Bangladesh is located downstream of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin. We have 57 trans-boundary rivers. There is no water-sharing treaty except for Ganges. Immediate signing of agreements on water sharing of all rivers including Teesta river is necessary to ensure our fair share of water. In addition, maximum use of surface water must be ensured and no development plan causing any harm to source of water must be taken up.