Poor populace of Dhaka is at grave health risk for lack of proper sanitation
Iffat Jerin | Sunday, 29 June 2008
ZAHURA Begun lives in a city slum. She works in a number of houses as a maid in her Tejgaon neighbourhood. Though she cleans others' houses, her own home always remains dirty.
There are about 500 rooms in the slum she lives in. There are only four toilets for nearly 4,500 people. Hence, many residents of the slum are often seen defecating in open spaces.
"There is no bathroom for us. So, we have no choice but to use drains and roads as toilets," says Zahura.
According to a World Bank (WB) report, Dhaka is the fastest expanding city in the world. It has now got nearly 12 million (1.2 crore) people with approximately 0.3-0.4 million (3-4 lakh) poor joining it every year. The city's population is apprehended to hit 20 million (2.0 crore) in 2020, making it the world's third largest city.
Unfortunately, Dhaka cannot cope with its growing population. A significant portion of the City's populace lives in slums. These people have virtually no access to the city's sanitation and sewerage facilities. Among 1,925 slums mentioned in the report, there is only one public toilet each in only 43 slums. And there is, ill fact, no healthcare service for these poor people.
According to Public Health Engineering Department and Unicef, 39 per cent families, mostly slum dwellers, floating people and labourers, living in towns still do not use sanitary latrines. Most of these people use non-sanitary toilets and drains.
More worrying is that 23.7 per cent families of the country defecate in open spaces while 37.5 per cent use hanging latrines.
The WB report also says houses are being built in new areas of the city without having sewerage system. Low-lying areas of the city, lakes, ponds and surrounding rivers and canals are being filled Lip with sewerage wastes. As a result of this, public health has been at grave danger. The situation will get worse with the expansion of the city and increase in its population.
The report also says lack of proper sanitation also causes harm to slum dwellers' health, reducing their working capacity. So, poverty is on the up. There is a close connection between sanitation and poverty. Physical capability is the main treasure of poor people. And poor people become poorer if they are deprived of production and income.
In this regard, ICCDR,B scientist MA Wahid says Dhaka is mainly kept running by the low-income people. But, they are living at risk. Every year, more than 0.1 million (1.0 lakh) children die of diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery etc.
More than Tk 5.0 million (500 crore) is spent every year only on treatment purpose. The number of adults affected by different diseases for lack of proper sanitation is also high. This is undoubtedly having a negative effect on the country's economy.
According to sources, every day about 0.6 million-0.7 million (6.0-7.0 lakh) people commute to Dhaka for works. Due to the absence of adequate public toilets, most of them use roads, footpaths and other spaces. Urinating and defecating in open spaces poses a risk to public health.
Sanitation in Bangladesh is one of the main challenges. In light with the UN-declared Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), works began in this country in 2003 for ensuring sanitation for all by 2010 to prevent environment pollution and improve public health.
According to information released by the LGRD Ministry in 2006, 85 per cent families of the city have been brought under its sanitation network.
Eminent environmentalist and journalist Dr Hussein Shahriar says, "Sanitation in Dhaka is very fragile. Still, there exists the sewerage system of 1958. The government is only considering quantity, not quality. That's why it is claiming 85 per cent success. It is not seen if these latrines are hygienic and environmental friendly. Different researches show about 50 per cent of the latrines set up under government initiative is not hygienic."
According to information provided by Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, an NGO, safe water, sanitation and personal healthcare are the pre-conditions of a healthy life. Owing to the absence of these, people are affected by different waterborne diseases, including diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and dysentery.
Anwarul Iqbal, Adviser to the caretaker government, says, "1.1 million (11 lakh) children under the age of five die of diarrhoea every year. So, there is no alternative to ensuring sanitation." He adds that a new decision is going to be taken on waste management in Dhaka soon.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) vice-chancellor Prof AM Safiullah calls for turning capital's wastes into wealth. "Drinkable water, sanitation, environment and poverty and related with each other, Lack of proper sanitation is killing poor people and children."
According to government statistics, 80.91 per cent families in rural areas use hygienic latrines, 85.18 per cent in municipal areas and 81.47 per cent in city corporations. But, a professor of the Bangladesh International Training Centre and BUET dispute the figure saying, "Investigations show that the rate of families under sanitation will not be over 42 per cent. The government information about the success of sanitation is confusing."
To make the sanitation programme a success in every aspect, all the obstacles must be properly identified. And it is very essential to take effective measures to remove the obstacles urgently.
In order to ensure proper sanitation, experts put forward a number of recommendations. Those include waging a social movement involving everyone in the society, creating mass awareness through chalking out different programmes, addressing the issues of poor people and more proactive role of the government.
By courtesy: News Network
There are about 500 rooms in the slum she lives in. There are only four toilets for nearly 4,500 people. Hence, many residents of the slum are often seen defecating in open spaces.
"There is no bathroom for us. So, we have no choice but to use drains and roads as toilets," says Zahura.
According to a World Bank (WB) report, Dhaka is the fastest expanding city in the world. It has now got nearly 12 million (1.2 crore) people with approximately 0.3-0.4 million (3-4 lakh) poor joining it every year. The city's population is apprehended to hit 20 million (2.0 crore) in 2020, making it the world's third largest city.
Unfortunately, Dhaka cannot cope with its growing population. A significant portion of the City's populace lives in slums. These people have virtually no access to the city's sanitation and sewerage facilities. Among 1,925 slums mentioned in the report, there is only one public toilet each in only 43 slums. And there is, ill fact, no healthcare service for these poor people.
According to Public Health Engineering Department and Unicef, 39 per cent families, mostly slum dwellers, floating people and labourers, living in towns still do not use sanitary latrines. Most of these people use non-sanitary toilets and drains.
More worrying is that 23.7 per cent families of the country defecate in open spaces while 37.5 per cent use hanging latrines.
The WB report also says houses are being built in new areas of the city without having sewerage system. Low-lying areas of the city, lakes, ponds and surrounding rivers and canals are being filled Lip with sewerage wastes. As a result of this, public health has been at grave danger. The situation will get worse with the expansion of the city and increase in its population.
The report also says lack of proper sanitation also causes harm to slum dwellers' health, reducing their working capacity. So, poverty is on the up. There is a close connection between sanitation and poverty. Physical capability is the main treasure of poor people. And poor people become poorer if they are deprived of production and income.
In this regard, ICCDR,B scientist MA Wahid says Dhaka is mainly kept running by the low-income people. But, they are living at risk. Every year, more than 0.1 million (1.0 lakh) children die of diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery etc.
More than Tk 5.0 million (500 crore) is spent every year only on treatment purpose. The number of adults affected by different diseases for lack of proper sanitation is also high. This is undoubtedly having a negative effect on the country's economy.
According to sources, every day about 0.6 million-0.7 million (6.0-7.0 lakh) people commute to Dhaka for works. Due to the absence of adequate public toilets, most of them use roads, footpaths and other spaces. Urinating and defecating in open spaces poses a risk to public health.
Sanitation in Bangladesh is one of the main challenges. In light with the UN-declared Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), works began in this country in 2003 for ensuring sanitation for all by 2010 to prevent environment pollution and improve public health.
According to information released by the LGRD Ministry in 2006, 85 per cent families of the city have been brought under its sanitation network.
Eminent environmentalist and journalist Dr Hussein Shahriar says, "Sanitation in Dhaka is very fragile. Still, there exists the sewerage system of 1958. The government is only considering quantity, not quality. That's why it is claiming 85 per cent success. It is not seen if these latrines are hygienic and environmental friendly. Different researches show about 50 per cent of the latrines set up under government initiative is not hygienic."
According to information provided by Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, an NGO, safe water, sanitation and personal healthcare are the pre-conditions of a healthy life. Owing to the absence of these, people are affected by different waterborne diseases, including diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and dysentery.
Anwarul Iqbal, Adviser to the caretaker government, says, "1.1 million (11 lakh) children under the age of five die of diarrhoea every year. So, there is no alternative to ensuring sanitation." He adds that a new decision is going to be taken on waste management in Dhaka soon.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) vice-chancellor Prof AM Safiullah calls for turning capital's wastes into wealth. "Drinkable water, sanitation, environment and poverty and related with each other, Lack of proper sanitation is killing poor people and children."
According to government statistics, 80.91 per cent families in rural areas use hygienic latrines, 85.18 per cent in municipal areas and 81.47 per cent in city corporations. But, a professor of the Bangladesh International Training Centre and BUET dispute the figure saying, "Investigations show that the rate of families under sanitation will not be over 42 per cent. The government information about the success of sanitation is confusing."
To make the sanitation programme a success in every aspect, all the obstacles must be properly identified. And it is very essential to take effective measures to remove the obstacles urgently.
In order to ensure proper sanitation, experts put forward a number of recommendations. Those include waging a social movement involving everyone in the society, creating mass awareness through chalking out different programmes, addressing the issues of poor people and more proactive role of the government.
By courtesy: News Network