As the sources of drinking water are shrinking in the country's coastal belt due largely to climate change effects, people living in the region struggle every day to get the sweet water required for a healthy life.
Saline water has in recent years intruded into rivers, canals, ponds and even tube-wells, creating an extreme scarcity of safe drinking water in southern districts such as Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, and Patuakhali.
In such a context, the people in the coastal areas say they need a long-lasting solution to the pure drinking water crisis so that they can get rid of the difficulties they face today.
"We take water from ponds but our children and even older people suffer discomfort and diseases as a result of drinking such impure water. We have to walk a long way and cross the river daily to bring safe drinking water. It will be very good for us if we can have access to drinking water near home," Sakina Begum, a 45-year-old housewife of Gabura in Shyamnagar, Satkhira, told a group of visiting journalists recently.
However, a number of private sector initiatives are working alongside government agencies to help the communities get rid of the water crisis in Shyamnagar and other affected areas of the coastal belt.
Rani, 32, an inhabitant of Mollabari village in Shyamnagar, shared her experience of suffering due to the drinking water crisis, with the newsmen, saying that they had struggled over the years. "Now, for the past two years, we have been drinking water supplied by Probaho" she added.
Abdur Rahim, a madrasha student of the area, recalled that their pond, once the only source of drinking water, got polluted by saline water during Cyclone Aila in 2009. "As a child, I had suffered diseases from drinking pond water. However, I am now better as I drink water taken from the plant," he pointed out.
Evolving from regular filtration technology to modern reverse osmosis technology, the project in very recent times has successfully installed 6 new purification plants in Asashuni, Shyamnagar, and Nalta upazilas. As a result, over 20,000 individuals now have access to clean drinking water, and families in these areas are protected from water-borne diseases.
A partner in the national efforts to cover hundred per cent people with safe drinking water in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal-6, private initiative Probaho has installed 121 water filtration plants across 23 districts, providing over 600,000 liters of clean water to more than 300,000 people every day. The initiative has addressed three critical aspects of the water crisis - arsenic contamination, water scarcity in the hilly region and drinking water crisis caused by salinity along the coast. As a recognition Probaho received multiple accolades including the prestigious 'Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Award (AREA)' in 2015 and the "Bangladesh Innovation Award" in 2018.
"On this World Water Day, Probaho celebrates its 15th anniversary by reaffirming its commitment to supporting coastal communities in addressing the escalating water crisis caused by climate change. Our goal is to provide a sustainable model solution to this crisis while also supporting the Bangladesh government in achieving the SDGs," expressed Ahmed Raihan Ahsanullah, the representative of Probaho.
A few organisations such as WaterAid, World Vision and some local non-government organisations are also working on addressing the crisis of pure drinking water in the region. The government has set up some water supply plants and according to officials concerned, initiatives are there to harvest rainwater to make sure people in salinity-prone areas can drink safe water.
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