Hundreds mass WASA office
MD unavailable; director pledges safe supply to Jurain
FE Report | Wednesday, 24 April 2019
WASA Managing Director (MD) Taksim A Khan skipped office on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside his office to feed him 'pure' WASA water.
Mizanur Rahman, a Jurain resident, turned up with others as per an earlier announcement to feed Mr Khan lemon juice with WASA water following the latter's comment on its purity.
The WASA chief at a press conference on Sunday claimed WASA water to be '100 per cent drinkable'.
His comments came hot on the heels of the revelation of a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study.
According to the TIB report, Dhaka's residents have to spend Tk 3.32 billion on boiling WASA water to make it drinkable.
Mr Rahman along with his family and friends prepared lemon juice in front of the WASA building before their premeditated meeting with Mr Khan.
The demonstrators carried banners and placards with slogans like 'take responsibility for contaminated water', and 'give pure water, not waste' to protest WASA's supply line and the MD's comments.
But police barred them from entering the WASA building.
As protesters took position on the stairs of the building, WASA director (technical) AKM Shahid Uddin allowed them in his room around 1:00 pm.
He also refused to drink WASA water they offered.
Mr Rahman told journalists that Jurain inhabitants have been consuming contaminated water for years after boiling as water colour of the WASA supply line is found similar like drain water.
"He [Mr Taskim] said WASA water is drinkable. That is why, we brought it for him to drink," he said.
The WASA director assured the protesters of taking steps to supply safe water to the area.
But the demonstrators demanded the MD's apology against his comments and his resignation immediately.
The inhabitants of Jurain neighbourhood also demanded refund of the bills they have so far paid to WASA after investigation into unsafe water supplies.
Meanwhile, Mr Shahid told the media that water in the area becomes contaminated for having obsolete pipelines and gave assurances of immediate steps to this end.