No rains, heat worsens Bagerhat’s drinking water crisis

There is an acute shortage of pure drinking water along the coast of Bagerhat. Thousands of people of several upazilas in the district are suffering from various water-borne diseases due to the month-long water crisis.

The district administration and the Department of Public Health Engineering are jointly supplying water through five mobile water treatment plants in Morrelganj, Sarankhola  and Mongla upazilas but that is not sufficient for the inhabitants of the areas, reports our Bagerhat correspondent.

Due to extreme heat and drought, water sources like ponds, and creeks have dried up, causing a crisis not only for drinking water but also for water used for daily necessities.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Health Engineering has urged residents to collect water from different sources and either boil it or use purification tablets. Chairman of Rayenda Union Parishad Asaduzzaman Milon said, "Shallow tube wells are not installed in four unions of our upazila due to salinity."

"About 1.5 lakh people depend on ponds and rainwater to quench their thirst. But this time there is no water in the sources as it is very hot and there is no rain. Currently the water being supplied through the mobile water treatment plant is also inadequate. Even so, this is helping at least some people," he said

FM Ismail Hossain, the executive engineer of the Department of Public Health Engineering in Bagerhat, said, "Each plant is supplying 600 litres of pure water per hour. These activities will continue as long as the water crisis is not resolved." 

Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner A N M Faizul Haque said, "The biggest problem in Bagerhat district is salinity. There is an acute shortage of drinking water especially in Sharankhola, Morrelganj, Rampal and Mongla."

"Due to the dry season and drought, most of the ponds have dried up. As a result, thousands of families in the upazilas are crying for drinking water. The risk of diarrhoea is increasing as well," he said.