Water everywhere, yet not enough to drink
Barguna's Patharghata upazila is surrounded by large rivers, with canals and other waterbodies crisscrossing across the area.
Yet, residents of the upazila have an acute shortage of drinking water.
Located close to the Bay, the rivers and waterbodies in and around Patharghata are highly saline and unfit for drinking.
"There is water everywhere, but no water to drink. Fresh water is increasingly becoming scarce over time. For consumption, people are largely dependent on water from ponds. The situation worsens when the ponds dry up in the dry season," said Sohrab Hossain, a resident of Badurtala village.
Patharghata Municipality filters water from its pond and supplies it to the townspeople for payment, while locals line up in long queues to fetch water from ponds in the neighbourhoods.
At present, around 50 percent of the upazila's population is largely deprived of adequate drinking water.
Mehdi Hasan, deputy assistant engineer of Department of Public Health Engineering in the upazila, said the situation is further aggravated by the fact that tubewells cannot be installed for groundwater extraction due to the existence of hard materials, like stones, beneath the topsoil.
"In the dry season, the crisis of drinking water becomes more acute. The residents use ponds, ditches, canals or rivers for bathing and other domestic chores, but for drinking they have to collect water by other means," he said.
"There are 40 PSFs [pond sand filters] in the upazila, including two in the municipal area. Filtered pond water is supplied through pipes on a limited scale. PSFs often have water taps through which locals collect water. There are 16 such water points in the municipal area," Mehdi continued.
Also, there is a system of regular delivery of water to houses through vans after collection from these points. The price of each drum of 20-litre water is Tk 20. Seven delivery men are involved in selling water in the municipal area," he added.
Shah Alam, who supplies water to households on a van, said he earns Tk 15,000 to 20,000 every month, with which he runs his family.
Babul Sheikh, a local, said, "My family of two needs 10 drums of water monthly for Tk 200, alongside municipal water supply through pipes for which I have to pay Tk 300."
Sohel Ahmed, officer of municipal water supply unit, said, "Of the 27,000 residents of the municipality, around 80 percent are supplied with PSF water through pipes. The municipality sells water for Tk 22 per litre."
"There are also 16 public water taps at various points through which locals can collect water. During water shortage in the dry season, 12 more water taps are installed to meet the increased demand," he said.
"The municipality has two PSFs and two overhead tanks with 16,000 litres capacity each. Currently, it is capable of supplying 23 lakh litres of water against a demand of 28 lakh litres daily in the municipal area. Also, 3,000 families have been given water tanks free of cost for harvesting rainwater," the official added.
Abdul Karim of Chaherabad village said, "We all grew up amid scarcity of drinking water. People sometimes wait 2-3 hours in a queue to fetch a pitcher of water. The lack of food can be tolerated, but the lack of water is difficult to withstand."
Some residents are also supplied fresh water through "solar-powered water plants" under a project of Bandhu Foundation established in 2022. The foundation also constructed 600 water tanks and five PSFs for rainwater harvesting in three villages.
Shamim, project engineer of Bandhu Foundation in the upazila, said, "The foundation has been working since 2012 to solve the water crisis in the upazila. Ten solar-powered water plants have been installed to this end since 2022."
Mustafa Golam Kabir, chairman of Patharghata Upazila Parishad, said, "This year, 15,500 tanks have been allocated through the DPHE to be distributed to residents for rainwater harvesting. It will meet the water shortage to a large extent."
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