Can city residents expect supply of clean water?
Thursday, 22 November 2007
The government needs to keep clean the rivers from which comes treated water supply for the city.
The rivers flowing by Dhaka city once used to be very useful environmentally and otherwise for the metropolis. They were used for transportation of people and cargo and were source for a variety of fish.
It's long since the quality of the waters of the rivers deteriorated due to a lot of factors including dumping of industrial effluents and sewage disposal. No wonder the citizens are worried about the quality of water of those rivers. The plants that treat water of these rivers have been installed by the WASA. The Dhakaites also remain concerned whether WASA can supply reasonably clean water for their consumption. But it is known that all sorts of water-borne diseases are on the rise and children remain the worst victims. Water supplied by the WASA stinks and appear quite unclean, complain people in many areas. People find it difficult to use water supplied by WASA to many localities. The inability to purify the too unclean river waters, says WASA, was the cause of the problem.
The task of the authorities to keep the rivers clean cannot wait anymore. Immediate steps must be taken by the government at whatever the cost may be to save the rivers from further pollution. Emergency steps are needed to increase WASA's capacity to supply clean water.
It was heartening to note that the authorities recently directed the polluting industries set up by the rivers to quickly acquire effluent treatment facilities. Any industry that fail to comply with the directive would be closed down, the authorities warned. But the directive must be enforced. Warnings must be direly communicated to the offending industries located even in various residential areas of the city.
ABM Mohiuddin
Wari, Dhaka
The rivers flowing by Dhaka city once used to be very useful environmentally and otherwise for the metropolis. They were used for transportation of people and cargo and were source for a variety of fish.
It's long since the quality of the waters of the rivers deteriorated due to a lot of factors including dumping of industrial effluents and sewage disposal. No wonder the citizens are worried about the quality of water of those rivers. The plants that treat water of these rivers have been installed by the WASA. The Dhakaites also remain concerned whether WASA can supply reasonably clean water for their consumption. But it is known that all sorts of water-borne diseases are on the rise and children remain the worst victims. Water supplied by the WASA stinks and appear quite unclean, complain people in many areas. People find it difficult to use water supplied by WASA to many localities. The inability to purify the too unclean river waters, says WASA, was the cause of the problem.
The task of the authorities to keep the rivers clean cannot wait anymore. Immediate steps must be taken by the government at whatever the cost may be to save the rivers from further pollution. Emergency steps are needed to increase WASA's capacity to supply clean water.
It was heartening to note that the authorities recently directed the polluting industries set up by the rivers to quickly acquire effluent treatment facilities. Any industry that fail to comply with the directive would be closed down, the authorities warned. But the directive must be enforced. Warnings must be direly communicated to the offending industries located even in various residential areas of the city.
ABM Mohiuddin
Wari, Dhaka