Water crisis in city may take a serious turn soon

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A heavy shower Friday morning though broke the hot-spell, the plight of the people facing acute water shortage is unlikely to go away soon. — FE Photo by Shafiqul Alam

Yasir Wardad
The water crisis that has been causing sufferings to the residents of different parts of the Dhaka city is unlikely to end soon.
Rather lifting of excess groundwater from the aquifer and obstruction to recharge it may even intensify the crisis in the coming days, experts said.
Excess lifting of groundwater, pollution of natural water bodies, power outage, overpopulation and policy failures are the factors causing water crisis in the capital, they said.
The areas in which people across the capital are suffering from water crisis now include Mirpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Badda-Gulshan, Jurain, Khilgaon, Moghbazar, Bashabo, Mugda, Madartek, Wari, Azimpur, most parts of Old Dhaka, Hazaribag, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi-Shankar, Kalyanpur.
Residents claimed that the water supplied by Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) was inadequate and in some areas the piped-water was also too much polluted and unfit for consumption.
"Even, despite boiling it for more than an hour, the bad smell doesn't go. On the other hand, its colour becomes yellow-reddish. This water can only be used for washing clothes and cleaning the floor," Aklima Ara, a house-wife at Azimpur Graveyard (old) area in the capital said.
She said most of the time she is forced to use this dirty water for cooking and drinking.
"Water is available for only about an hour a day and we get highly inadequate water for our five-member family. So I go to collect water from the 'direct pump' to meet the demand," she said.
"The prices of water jar and bottled water are far beyond our means," she added.
Like Mrs Aklima, citizens from many parts of the capital are suffering from water crisis while in many areas they are protesting against inaction of the authority concerned in this connection everyday.
Meanwhile, WASA officials said they were lifting 2.0 to 2.05 billion litres of water per day through its 606 pumps against a demand of 2.3 to 2.35 billion litres.
They have a shortage of 0.25 billion to 0.30 billion litres due to power outage and depletion of groundwater.
A senior official of WASA said the pollution of water is mostly caused by the water of Sitalakshya River as it has become over-polluted.
He said because of high toxicity of the Shitalakshya water, we put more ammonium sulphate and chloride to distill the water.
He termed the Shitalakshya River as 'clinically dead' due to its high-level of pollution like the Buriganga.
"But we are forced to purify it as we have no other choice. The project, Padma River Water Treatment Plant, has not seen light amid fund crisis," he added.
The official also said that WASA has already been forced to use the second aquifer as the ground water level has gone down below 25 to 30 metres over the last 32 years.
WASA Managing Director Taksim A Khan said that the groundwater level is depleting alarmingly by 1.0 metre per year in Dhaka city.
Depletion of the underground water level coupled with power shortage is making the water situation critical, the WASA MD said.
Mr Khan emphasised the need for recovering and reviving the natural water bodies of the capital to increase surface water use and to make a way to recharge the underground aquifer.
Dr Anwar Zahid, deputy director (groundwater hydrology) of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), said Dhaka is traditionally dependent on groundwater of the aquifer known as 'the Dupi Tila' underneath the Madhupur Clay.
The Dupi Tila aquifer has been providing about 87 per cent of the total supply of quality water for more than 15 million people in Dhaka city, but the condition has become critical due to its over exploitation.
The industries and large users are also utilising a substantial amount of groundwater for their need by sinking their own tubewells.
He said, compared to the exploitation, the recharge of the aquifer is very negligible which is alarming.
The surface area through which ground water is recharged is decreasing day by day due to construction of buildings, roads and concrete pavements as well as unplanned urbanisation, said Dr Zahid, also a hydro and environmental geologist.
"Dhaka is fortunate for its geological structure -- a kind of loose sand -- that doesn't make a 'complete vacuum' which could create a massive landslide as Mexico witnessed for her hard-rock structure."
"But, after pumping of water and keeping the aquifer un-recharged, loose sands become hard and water lifting from the second stage or from more depth would be impossible for the high cost involved," he said.
Water specialist Prof Ainun Nishat said the main problem lies in the rapid and unplanned urbanisation.
"We are lifting water according to our demand, but the amount of recharge is too little."
The government should rethink about the planning of Dhaka which keeps no space for recharging the groundwater.
The natural water bodies and rivers like Buriganga, Turag, Bonshi, Balu, Shitalakshya have to be freed from pollutions for the future of the city, he said.
Climate specialist Prof Ahsan Uddin Khan said there is a possibility of the increase in sea-level amid climate change caused by global warming.
"The fresh groundwater in the aquifer should be recharged properly otherwise saline water can creep into it that can create a devastating situation for our ecology as well as existence."
Former director general of the Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO) M Enamul Hauqe said the government has to control commercialisation of water.
"Lifting water by private industries for commercial purposes should be restricted and any export decision of water must be prohibited for the country's future protection", he added.
The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) 2010 report showed that the groundwater level of Dhaka has been depleted by 7 metres in last 7 years.