‘Probaho’ plants supplying safe water in Kushtia

A number of community-based water purification plants, installed in different areas of Kushtia - one of the worst arsenic-affected districts, continue to help improve people's socio-economic condition there, locals said.

They added that the water filtration plants, set up under a project called 'Probaho' (flow), are providing safe water to the villagers in the region along with creating scopes for occasional community gathering.

During a visit in the last week to the district's Mirpur upazila, located around 180 kilometers away from the capital city, the FE correspondent talked to many of the local villagers. They are beneficiaries of the project, launched under a multinational company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

Rakibullah Rokon, one of the beneficiaries in Ahmedpur village, said the 'Probaho' water filtration plant was installed there in March 2011 to supply safe water in the wake of severe arsenic menace.

Comparing the present and the past scenarios, he said: "The plants are now our lifeline, whereas earlier the villagers used to suffer from different types of water-borne disease, specially related to arsenic."

Mr Rokon, a sexagenarian, also said the filtration plants have been installed under the 'Probaho' programme of the British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) Company Limited.

Officials said there are now 78 such plants across 13 districts, including Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Tangail and Manikganj. They provide 0.4 million litres of water per day to meet the needs of 0.2 million people.

The project was initiated in 2009 to provide safe water to Bangladesh's rural people, which is now aligned with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 'Probaho' plants are helping the country to meet several targets of SDGs, including poverty reduction, and ensuring good health and access to clean water and sanitation etc, they added.

The plants have been installed with the technical support of SIDKO water filtration unit, a government-approved technology, at a cost of Tk 0.58 million each.

A plant lifts up groundwater to an overhead tank, and distributes among the beneficiaries through another tank after several stages of purification. Committees consisting of villagers' representatives supervise the water treatment plants.

President of Ahmedpur 'Probaho' Filter Management Committee - Abdul Mannan - said each plant can refine 5,000 liters of water per day on an average, which is enough to meet the villagers' drinking and cooking needs.

Though BATB takes all the responsibilities of the plants, the village committee collects a negligible amount of Tk 10 per month from each family to bear some expenses.

"We introduced the fee to instill a sense of ownership among the beneficiaries."

The practice has also strengthened bondage among the villagers, said Mr Mannan, who is a farmers' representative in the area.

The villagers often assemble to discuss the issues related to filter maintenance, where they also talk about other socio-economic issues like - crop production, he added.

Mahmuda Sultana Poly, a village woman, was found collecting water from a 'Probaho' plant.

Talking to the FE, she said a decade ago local guardians used to face challenges while marrying off their daughters on account of arsenic-related problems in the villages.

"Prior to availability of safe water from the 'Probaho' plants, people used to collect water from tube-wells, rivers or ponds, which were polluted with several impurities."

At that time the villagers had to spend a significant amount of time to fetch drinking water from safe tube-wells or other sources from remote areas, as they had no other option.

"The plants are now helping people to save time, money, health and energy, and thus they can concentrate more on their economic and social activities," she added.Shahidul Islam, beneficiary of a plant located near the entrance of Kushtia Sugar Mill, said he comes here from a nearby village to collect water every day.

"Safe water was becoming dearer for people like us due to high cost in managing filtration equipments by ourselves," he noted.

The BATB won the 'Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Award 2015' and 'Bangladesh Innovation Award - SDG inclusion category' in 2018 for the 'Probaho' project.

To mention, World Water Day is being celebrated today (Friday, March 22) with the theme - 'Leaving no one behind'.

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