Acute water crisis in Dhanmondi

Residents in a locality of Dhaka's Dhanmondi have been suffering an acute water crisis for the past six months. They say the situation has gone only from bad to worse in the last couple of months, compounding their problems. They said 103 families living in 16 houses on Road 3/A, opposite to Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi, had been hit by shortages in the supplies of the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). The authorities had promised a solution within ‘one or two days’ when they were informed. WASA Deputy Managing Director SDM Kamrul Alam Chowdhury said that a project work had caused the problem. ‘The work is supposed to be completed in 2015. However, I had talks with the Lalmatia Zone executive engineer. The water supply to that area will be normal in the next 2/3 days,’ he added. The residents, however, are unwilling to trust the official assurance. Mahmud Hasan Rana, a resident of house No 17, said: ‘We’ve been given such assurances for the past two months. Water is supplied once in 4/5 days for half to one hour. At times, even that doesn’t come,’ he said. Housewife Moni Kuntala Datta said cooking and washing had become difficult. When asked how they were coping, Mahmudul Haq Khokan, a resident, said they were depending on small amount of water supplied by WASA tankers. He said they had to pay Tk 700-800 for water per tanker, according to a news agency.