Dhaka city residents spend over Tk 3.0 billion in gas bill a year on boiling piped water, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said some 91 per cent of the surveyed clients of the state-run Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) boiled supplied water with gas.
This means to make piped water relatively pure, service recipients have to pay Tk 3.32 billion in gas bill a year, though a client is supposed to get drinkable water directly from the pipeline.
The survey data were collected from 2,768 service recipients from the 10 distribution zones during the first two weeks of August last year.
Some 47 per cent of clients are dissatisfied with the water quality and 78.5 per cent are dissatisfied with sewerage system, according to the study.
Almost 93 per cent people use several methods to purify supplied water.
Survey data show that 51.5 per cent service recipients of Dhaka WASA reported that the water supplied by Wasa was dirty.
Again, 41.4 per cent service recipients reported that the water they got from the supply line had bad smell.
Meanwhile, more than half -- or 53.3 per cent -- greased the palms of staffers of Wasa to avoid harassment and delay in getting services.
Even more, over three-fourths of service seekers fall victims to the state agency's corruption and irregularities, researchers estimated.
These shocking results came from the study on "Dhaka WASA: Governance challenges and way forward," which was unveiled at a press conference in the city Wednesday.
TIB chairperson Sultana Kamal, adviser to the organisation's executive management Sumaiya Khair and its executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman attended the press conference, among others.
TIB researchers Md Shahnur Rahman and Md Sahidul Islam presented the key findings at the conference.
Speaking at the press conference, Dr Iftekharuzzaman said Wasa is yet to achieve the milestone, in terms of providing safe water and ensuring proper sewerage system.
"Still, there are huge gaps between Dhaka dwellers' expectations and the standards of the service provided by the Wasa," he said.
Established in 1963, Dhaka Wasa has since provided 374,034 water connections in its 11 distribution zones.
According to the report, there are legal and institutional limitations for the government agency in terms of human resources, inadequate logistics, gaps in information management, slow implementation of projects and capacity constraints to reduce system loss.
The other limitations include weak monitoring system, lack of effectiveness in Wasa Board in ensuring internal accountability, and the absence of coordination with city corporations.
According to the study, there are also irregularities in procurement, project implementation, undue interference of collective bargaining agent (CBA) in administrative work, forgery in meter reading and customer service.
The survey findings show that 26.9 per cent service recipients contacted Dhaka Wasa from July 2017 to June 2018, for water or sewerage-related services.
Some 61.9 per cent of them were victims of irregularities, harassment and corruption, the report said.
It also said of the total, 36.1 per cent were victims of bribery, 51.3 per cent victims of negligence, 20.7 per cent victims of delay, 23 per cent victims of absurd billing and 3.8 per cent victims of other types of corruption such as forced meter tempering.
The causes behind giving bribe included pressure from the staffers, clients' tendency to avoid harassment, getting faster services, and not having information on the actual service charges.
Some 86.2 per cent victims gave speed money to Wasa employees directly and 15.6 per cent to the brokers, the report said.
Amid various irregularities, there are some positive initiatives and the achievement of Dhaka Wasa, the report said quoting the government agency.
Some of those include the reduction of system loss from 40 per cent in 2010 to 22 per cent in 2016, increase in revenue collection to 95 per cent in the same year from 64.5 per cent in 2008.
The study report presented a set of recommendations such as ensuring transparency, strong monitoring, faster implementation of projects and periodic review systems for enhancing service standards.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman identified the lack of good governance and integrity, including at the institutional level, and corruption in procurement and project implementation as the key barriers to improved services.
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