No crisis of water this time

Except for some "isolated incidents", the city dwellers will not face any severe water crisis during this dry season and upcoming Ramadan, said Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka Wasa.

“There will be no water crisis in the capital… we have taken all out preparations,” he said at a meeting with reporters at its Karwan Bazar office yesterday.

The Wasa has a maximum capacity to produce 244-cr litres of water daily against a maximum demand for 240-cr litres, he said.

They have kept a total of 445 electric generators stand by to run 810 deep tube wells for undisrupted mining of underground water.

Apart from this, they have dual electricity connections to 200 water pumps so that those remain operational even in case of power rationing, he said.

Moreover, they have 52 water-carrying lorries and 20 trolley-mounted tractors to address urgent water crisis in any locality, said the Wasa MD.

The fall of water table during dry season and pollution in the Shitalakhya river pose a challenge to the usual water supply, said Khan.

Wasa currently extracts 78 percent of its production from underground aquifer with deep tube wells and the rest from five surface water treatment plants, he said. 

Regarding the capital's storm drainage system during monsoon, he said the natural drainage system in the city is all destroyed.

The city canals have been either grabbed or clogged with solid wastes, he said.

“We will ensure that the city does not remain water-submerged more than three hours,” said the MD in reply to a question.

They are doing routine maintenance of storm drains and pump stations and have excavated some canals, he said, adding that they would start cleaning the canals and storm drains before the monsoon sets in.