Water project to mitigate arsenic poison may get new term

The Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP) may be extended for another three years, officials said yesterday.

The World Bank (WB) credit for the US$ 44 million project is closing on June 30. Earlier, it was extended for nine months after its expiry in September 2002.

A team of experts from the WB headquarters in Washington, US, left the city last week after examining different aspects of the four-year project.

Officials said a three-member team of the WB reviewed recent progress of the project and expressed satisfaction but the officials are still unhappy with the pace of the project, which is supposed to provide alternative source of safe drinking water to arsenic affected areas. However, mitigation activities are still very limited and only a few upazila have been provided with mitigation services. Tubewell testing has been completed in 147 out of 268 upazila.

According to sources, the WB and its co-financiers have placed two conditions for lending further credit for the project. The conditions are giving priority to the community demand for safe water options, instead of imposing mitigation services, and leaving financial management to the community leaders themselves.

The government has already accepted the first condition but expressed doubts about the community leaders' ability to handle financial resources effectively since the question of accountability will arise.

It has proposed that community leaders be trained on handling financial resources and only then given the authority to handle such matters.

According to sources, the WB mission held several meetings with the government officials and stakeholders including the secretary of the local government division and the chief engineer of the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE).

The WB experts also visited several arsenic affected areas where BAMWSP intervention is going on. The spots include Brahmanbaria, Narayanganj, Chapainawabganj and Chandpur.

The extended BAMWSP project is expected to receive about Tk 80 crore including funds from the government exchequer.

Sources also said a separate fund might be allocated for mitigation of arsenic in water supplied in towns.

More than 80 million people in 62 districts are now exposed to drinking arsenic contaminated water, mostly from hand-pumped tubewells. Surveys show in many areas naturally occurring arsenic has been found in concentration more than the WHO-approved permissible level of 50 parts per billion (ppb).

There are many upazila where all tubewells have been painted red to prohibit people from drinking water from the tubewells.