The troublesome trio
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
The problematic trio -- power load-shedding, water scarcity and gas supply disruption -- does often make the life of the residents of Dhaka city difficult. For more than a decade, the problems that have become almost a part of the day-to-day life in the city have intensified due to the failure of the successive governments. During the hot and humid summer days, the people are made to go without electricity for hours together. However, it is not that the Dhaka city residents are the only victims of persistent power shortage. Actually, the people in other cities and towns are the worst sufferers because of the load shedding of longer duration.
The problem of water scarcity is also as old as power shortage. However, the water problem is more localized in nature and is very much linked to load-shedding. Then again the low pressure of gas in the supply line, which of late has become a recurrent feature, does often create problems for domestic, commercial and industrial users. Many power stations are forced to go out of operation or generate less electricity because of the short supply of gas. A number of power plants at the moment have gone out of the stream, reportedly, because of low gas pressure. The problems of power, water and gas supply though inter-linked have their common origin-lack of planning and foresight on the part of the people who by turn occupied the seat of power.
One can carry on with their life without electricity and gas for sometime since there are alternatives. Lanterns and fuel woods though do not have a place in the modern day living could be found handy in difficult times. But in case of water there is no alternative. That is why residents of a number of areas in the city, mainly in its old part, are left with no options but to wait in long queues, even until late in the night, to fetch a pitcher of water. For the last few days situation in a large part of the city has deteriorated further following a substantial decline in the supply of water by the Dhaka WASA. The WASA authorities are blaming the erratic power supply, mainly low voltage, for the water supply disruption that has multiplied the sufferings of the residents in different parts of the city during the holy month of Ramadan.
What seems to be most frustrating for the Dhakaites is that they do not know when and how there would be an end to their sufferings concerning the utility services. None from the administration has ever tried to spell out such a plan. Actually, the administration itself is yet to draw a comprehensive plan that aims at solving the problems of water, gas and power on a long-term basis in a coordinated manner. There is every doubt whether the administration which is more prone to solving problems on ad-hoc basis would ever feel the necessity of taking up such a plan. Yet another failure on the part of the people running the public sector utility services has been that they do not explain to their subscribers the reasons for any disruption in their services. It is the media which have always contacted them to know the reasons and informed the people accordingly. In rare cases, the management of the public sector utility services has on its own explained to the people the reasons for supply disruption and apologized for the inconvenienced caused to them. The government must ask the utility service providers under its control to behave responsibly to their subscribers.
The problem of water scarcity is also as old as power shortage. However, the water problem is more localized in nature and is very much linked to load-shedding. Then again the low pressure of gas in the supply line, which of late has become a recurrent feature, does often create problems for domestic, commercial and industrial users. Many power stations are forced to go out of operation or generate less electricity because of the short supply of gas. A number of power plants at the moment have gone out of the stream, reportedly, because of low gas pressure. The problems of power, water and gas supply though inter-linked have their common origin-lack of planning and foresight on the part of the people who by turn occupied the seat of power.
One can carry on with their life without electricity and gas for sometime since there are alternatives. Lanterns and fuel woods though do not have a place in the modern day living could be found handy in difficult times. But in case of water there is no alternative. That is why residents of a number of areas in the city, mainly in its old part, are left with no options but to wait in long queues, even until late in the night, to fetch a pitcher of water. For the last few days situation in a large part of the city has deteriorated further following a substantial decline in the supply of water by the Dhaka WASA. The WASA authorities are blaming the erratic power supply, mainly low voltage, for the water supply disruption that has multiplied the sufferings of the residents in different parts of the city during the holy month of Ramadan.
What seems to be most frustrating for the Dhakaites is that they do not know when and how there would be an end to their sufferings concerning the utility services. None from the administration has ever tried to spell out such a plan. Actually, the administration itself is yet to draw a comprehensive plan that aims at solving the problems of water, gas and power on a long-term basis in a coordinated manner. There is every doubt whether the administration which is more prone to solving problems on ad-hoc basis would ever feel the necessity of taking up such a plan. Yet another failure on the part of the people running the public sector utility services has been that they do not explain to their subscribers the reasons for any disruption in their services. It is the media which have always contacted them to know the reasons and informed the people accordingly. In rare cases, the management of the public sector utility services has on its own explained to the people the reasons for supply disruption and apologized for the inconvenienced caused to them. The government must ask the utility service providers under its control to behave responsibly to their subscribers.