DWASA has to wait 5-months for generators in pumps
Friday, 9 April 2010
The capital's water authority will have to wait until August or September at the earliest for generators to power all of its water pumps, the Dhaka WASA chairman has said, reports bdnews24.com.
DWASA officials have said lack of generators is one of the main reasons for the city's existing water crisis, as hot weather is creating greater electricity demand to power fans and ACs, which in turn is leading to more frequent load-shedding.
There are 546 pumps under the DWASA, but 253 of them do not have back-up generators, making them non-functional during the frequent power outages in the capital.
DWASA chairman Gholam Moustafa Wednesday said WASA has completed a tender, and the results will go to the government's purchase committee for approval. He said the cost of the generators will be around Tk 550 million (55 crore).
No date has yet been set for the purchase committee meeting, which is chaired either by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
Moustafa said even if the purchase committee agreed today to allow us to go ahead and purchase the generators, DWASA would not get the generators before four or five months, as they must come from outside the country.
Prof Qazi Matin Ahmed, a hydrologist and groundwater specialist at Dhaka University's Department of Geology, said DWASA should have started the tender procedure much earlier.
"The electricity shortage happens every summer. This kind of situation we are seeing today was foreseeable. We should have had generators in place now."
Earlier, on 31 March, Moustafa had said the water shortage could easily be solved, if his organisation had more generators. On Wednesday, however, Moustafa said generators are not the full solution to the problem.
"Using electricity from the Power Development Board is the best solution, since generators cannot run for full 24-hours, and they do not always allow pumps to work at their full capacity," he added.
DWASA officials have said lack of generators is one of the main reasons for the city's existing water crisis, as hot weather is creating greater electricity demand to power fans and ACs, which in turn is leading to more frequent load-shedding.
There are 546 pumps under the DWASA, but 253 of them do not have back-up generators, making them non-functional during the frequent power outages in the capital.
DWASA chairman Gholam Moustafa Wednesday said WASA has completed a tender, and the results will go to the government's purchase committee for approval. He said the cost of the generators will be around Tk 550 million (55 crore).
No date has yet been set for the purchase committee meeting, which is chaired either by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
Moustafa said even if the purchase committee agreed today to allow us to go ahead and purchase the generators, DWASA would not get the generators before four or five months, as they must come from outside the country.
Prof Qazi Matin Ahmed, a hydrologist and groundwater specialist at Dhaka University's Department of Geology, said DWASA should have started the tender procedure much earlier.
"The electricity shortage happens every summer. This kind of situation we are seeing today was foreseeable. We should have had generators in place now."
Earlier, on 31 March, Moustafa had said the water shortage could easily be solved, if his organisation had more generators. On Wednesday, however, Moustafa said generators are not the full solution to the problem.
"Using electricity from the Power Development Board is the best solution, since generators cannot run for full 24-hours, and they do not always allow pumps to work at their full capacity," he added.