Locals bring out procession in Siddheswari protesting water crisis

Locals at Dhaka's Siddheswari Circular Road today staged demonstration against Dhaka Wasa, demanding uninterrupted water supply in the area.

With empty buckets and brooms in hands, they took out a protest march, saying that they are not getting water for the last six days, which made their lives miserable.

They chanted slogan -- "We want water." Some residents threatened to besiege local Wasa office unless their water crisis is over immediately, witnesses said.

The residents complained that there had faced water crisis for more than a week. But after Wasa worked on the water line at Mailbag intersection on Wednesday (October 19, 2022), the water supply came to a halt completely, many complained.

"We're not getting any water the entire day. The situation is going on for about a week," Abdul Mannan, a resident of the area told The Daily Star.

"Even Wasa's water-carrying trucks are not available now. If we order today, they send the truck a day later," he said adding that he did not face such problems in last seven to eight years. 

"Many are being forced to take a bath in their offices…Many are buying foods from shops as they could not cook for lack of water," said another.

The ongoing load shedding, fall of ground water, sudden increase of demand and equipment malfunction of deep tube wells and problem in pipeline are to blame for the situation, Mahbubur Rahman, executive engineer (Fakirerpool) Wasa told The Daily Star.  

"We're trying to solve the crisis…Several teams are working on it," he said.

A Wasa official said, "We need to set up a new deep tube well as water demand has increased here. We informed the issue to concerned authorities but don't get any suitable site yet."

"The situation may turn worse in future if we do not get any site immediately," he said.