‘Water governance need of the hour’
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary body on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, yesterday stressed the need for sustainable water governance to meet both current and future socio-economical and ecological demands.
Water governance refers to the political, social, economic, and administrative systems that influence the use and management of water. It is essentially about who gets what water, when and how, and who has the right to water, its related services and their benefits.
"Almost two-thirds of the available water has been used for food production. Hence, we need to think about food security as well as water security," he said at a discussion, titled "Thinking Beyond Sanitation: Transitioning to a Sustainable Urban Water Cycle", organised by The Daily Star in association with SNV at The Daily Star Centre.
Prof Muhammad Alamgir, UGC member, during his keynote presentation, said some 55pc of the urban population does not have access to clean water, which may increase further if the problem is not addressed properly.
Citing a recent survey of Urbanet Records, he said, "Currently, 39.70 percent of Bangladesh's people live in urban areas. The percentage may rise to 50 percent in 2037. The scarcity of water in the urban area will increase more if necessary measures are not taken."
SNV Country Director Ismène RAC Stalpers said Bangladesh has been facing an increasing number of impacts of climate changes.
Folkert GJ de Jager, first secretary of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said financing in the water sector is a challenge that needs to be addressed.
AHM Khalequr Rahman, executive engineer of the Department of Public Health Engineering, said, "As the contamination of water is increasing day by day, we must think about alternative sources in urban areas."
Sumana Sharmin, city planner of Gazipur City Corporation, said, "We cover 30 percent of areas in Gazipur with supply water, but many people of these areas have a tendency to extract groundwater."
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