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Sustainable planning a must ,to ensure safe drinking water

Experts tell workshop
Sustainable planning ensuring community participation is needed to face the challenges of safe drinking water during any disaster in the city, said the experts at a workshop yesterday.
They said water crisis in the city might worsen and immediate attention is a must for adopting necessary polities and strategies.
The national workshop titled Strengthening of safe drinking water management for disaster risk reduction in Dhaka city: Challenges and the way forward’ was organised by Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre (BDPC) and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) at the National Press Club in the city.
Dr Shoichi Ando, coordinator of UNCRD Hyogo Office in Japan, said during any disaster I the local people is the first to reach the site and start relief and rescue work.
So a mutual cooperation between the people and the government and an early preparedness can achieve a lot in this regard, he added.
“Natural disaster has become a pan of our existence and people have a culture of working together during disasters, said Farhad Uddin, director general of Disaster Management Bureau.
This collaboration has to be increased with constructive training, he added.
Farhad said during every natural disaster crisis of safe drinking water further aggravates.
He urged all to protect the safe water sources and save
the rivers of Dhaka.
Shahjahan Ali Mollah, managing director of Dhaka Wasa, said the underground water level in the city continues to fall creating an alarming situation.
With the increase of population, demand for safe water is rising every year leading to further exploitation of underground water, he added.
"Water table is going down at least two metres every year. Because of too much construction the aquifer doesn't recharge naturally. At the same time surface water sources, mostly the rivers around the city are too polluted and other water bodies have already been filled up
with earth for more construction," said Shahjahan.
The situation cannot be improved unless community people take the lead, he said urging all to play their part to prevent wastage of water and stop illegal connection.
Shahjahan blamed illegal water supply lines for contaminating water.
"Most of these connections are made in the dark at night leaving leak in the lines. These illegal connections often gets mixed up with sewer line. So the man-made leaks are the main sources of polluted waters,” he said.
However, in the old part of Dhaka the water pipes are eroding as these were installed
during the British period and need replacement, he added.
The community leaders attending the workshop said safe drinking water sources in Dhaka goes under water following a little rain.
The situation gets worse during flood while stinky polluted water is part of the daily life increasing the risk of waterborne diseases, they added.
Participated by DCC ward commissioners and community stakeholders, the workshop was also addressed by Mohammad Saidur Rahman, director of BDPC, and Edward Yutaka Sumoto, assistant researcher of UNCRD Hyogo Office.