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Nor any drop to drink

M. Mahamudul Haque
***Furthermore, Bangladesh is now experiencing a developing water crisis. According to statistics of Bangladesh's Water Development Board, more than 170 of Bangladesh's 230 large and medium rivers suffer from pollution and poor water management. Besides, a large number of people, due to lack of awareness, unsafe sources of water for personal and domestic needs like cooking, bathing, and washing utensils.***
WATER, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink," lamented the eminent English poet Coleridge in his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner written over 100 years ago. Such a drastic situation might not exist in Bangladesh, but neither is it so far away, with many of the population having to search frantically for safe drinking water.
Though Bangladesh has been known from ancient times for its abundance of water from various sources, it has been suffering for decades from acute scarcity of safe drinking water.
Prior to Bangladesh's independence in 1971, surface water from ponds, lakes and rivers, and to a lesser degree, groundwater from dug wells, were the traditional
sources of drinking water for the country's people.
Tube-wells have been used in Bangladesh since 1940s and in increasing numbers over the past 20 years. But tube-well water became suspect after it was found contaminated by arsenic in 1993.
Over the decades Bangladesh has been facing health hazards due to lack of safe drinking water. Many types of constraints are identified in ensuring safe water in the country, especially in the coastal belt, hilly region, and city slums.
Statistics says about 30 million people face health hazard due to arsenic contamination of the groundwater sources, while 55 million others are denied the use of water from tube-well due to fall in ground water level during the dry season. Another 14 million people in coastal areas are also badly affected due to excessive salinity.
National Sanitation Status (June 2007) states that 97.6 percent of the country's population drink piped water as well as from public taps, boreholes/tube-wells, protected wells, and spring or rainwater. But the discovery of the widespread arsenic contamination of groundwater has undermined this commendable success, and effectively lowered safe drinking water coverage to only 74 percent of the population.
About 28-35 million people are exposed to arsenic contamination above 50 ppb (parts per billion) while 46-57 million others are exposed to arsenic contamination above 10 ppb. WHO has identified the arsenic contamination in Bangladesh as the "largest mass poisoning of a population in history."
Safe drinking water both in rural and urban areas is under threat as
hand tube-wells, the major source of water in the rural areas, are being contaminated by arsenic. Piped water in the country's large cities including Dhaka gets polluted due to old pipelines and leakage, and for lack of proper maintenance.
Most of the slum dwellers in the big cities not get piped water due to shortage of water. A situation report states the disparity between demand and supply of water and sanitation services is worst in the urban slums of capital Dhaka, where only 16 percent of the slum population has access to safe water.
Inefficient management and operation of urban water networks leads to a substantial waste of precious water, and more than 40 percent of water is unaccounted for in the major cities of Bangladesh, the report added. Acute shortage of "normal" water is found also in hilly areas, where water coverage is not more than 15-20 percent.
Furthermore, Bangladesh is now experiencing a developing water crisis. According to statistics of Bangladesh's Water Development Board, more than 170 of Bangladesh's 230 large and medium rivers suffer from pollution and poor water management. Besides, a large number of people,
due to lack of awareness, unsafe sources of water for personal and domestic needs like cooking, bathing, and washing utensils.
Due to the lack of safe drinking water, Bangladesh faces a critical health hazard that forces the country to spend a huge amount of money every year for the treatment of water-borne diseases. National Sanitation Status, June 2007 said that every year Tk 50 billion is spent for the treatment of water-borne diseases in Bangladesh.
Eminent author K. Park in his book, The Text Book of Preventive and Social Medicine writes: "Water is considered safe when it is free from pathogenic agents, free from harmful chemical substances, and pleasant to taste — i.e., ideally free from colour and odour, and usable for domestic purposes.”
Can we meet this criteria for safe drinking water? Hardly.
Because the surface water sources often get mixed with highly polluting wastewater from domestic and industrial sources, and many areas of both groundwater and surface water are now contaminated with heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and other ingredients that have adverse affect on health.
Sources of safe water are being
gradually decreased or destroyed as level of groundwater is being contaminated by arsenic and other heavy metals due to unplanned use of water by installation of hand pumps.
By using unsafe water, one may be affected with various waterborne diseases. Though no reliable data is available, every year in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people, particularly children, die of cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, and other water-borne diseases for lack of safe drinking water. Banglapedia indicates that these diseases account for nearly a quarter of all illnesses in Bangladesh.
Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan once said: "We shall not finally defeat Aids, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation, and basic healthcare."
Safe drinking water is a prerequisite for reducing the spread of water-borne diseases. Many strategies and policies like Water Management Plan, National Policy for Safe Water and Sanitation. Sanitation Policy, National Arsenic Mitigation Policy, Pro-Poor
Strategy, etc. have been formulated for ensuring safe water and sanitation. But these could not be properly implemented in the country yet due to many reasons.
Financial constraint is one them. But it is a great concern that there are some allegations against some ministries implementing these policy and strategies. Implementation of such policies and strategies are being hampered due the lack of co-ordination among concerned ministries.
To ensure safe drinking water and safe use of water, alternative technology and water sources
like ponds and filtration and rainwater harvesting system should be introduced in crisis zones, specially in the coastal, hilly, and slum areas.
We should all become committed to stop misuse of water and water pollution alongside ensuring good governance in the country's water management. Government, NGOs, and donor agencies should come forward with more effective plans and policies on the country's water management immediately to meet the challenges.
Md Mahamudul Haque is a Sub-Editor, UNB