Scheme to ensure pure water for Kuakata

Good news for local residents as well as tourists in Kuakata.

The Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) is implementing a large project to ensure availability of pure water in the municipality, plagued with water crisis for long.

People in the area often collect water from ponds for bathing, washing and drinking as water from natural sources is affected with salinity. Even tube-well water in Kuakata tastes saline.

The DPHE in June last year started a Tk 37.48 crore project comprising works under six packages. Work for sinking of 200 deep tube-wells is going on under the first package. Other works include setting of three production tube-wells (large tube-wells to lift ground water), and construction of 13-kilometre-long drains and 10 public toilets.

Besides underground water, surface water will be supplied through pipelines after purifying in a treatment plant with a one-lakh litre capacity reservoir.

After purifying the water in the reservoir, it would be stored in a two-lakh litre capacity overhead tank for supplying to households as well as hotels and motels round the clock.

The whole project is scheduled to end in June, 2019.

After starting the water treatment plant, about 4,000 households will be directly benefited, officials said.

“About 10 acres of land would be needed to set up infrastructures at different points in the municipality and we are looking for land for acquisition. After completing of the project, local residents and tourists will get purified water all the time,” said Abdul Bareq Molla, mayor of Kuakata municipality.

Md Jihad Hossain, Kalapara upazila engineer for DPHE, said, “We have asked the authorities concerned for arrangement of khas land as there is no allocation for purchasing land for the project. After completion of the project all the residents in Kuakata municipality and tourists will get pure water.”