Desk Report: At least 48 per cent people in the coastal southwestern districts of Khulna and Satkhira have no access to safe drinking water and 58 per cent lack sanitation facilities, water and sanitation experts said at a dialogue, reports New Age. They said all this quoting a joint study done by the disaster management ministry, the USAID, the World Vision and a number of local NGOs.
The study was conducted under a project named, Nobo Jatra or new beginning.
The dialogue on water and sanitation was jointly organized by the Department of Public Health Engineering and Nobo Jatra.
Nobo Jatra adviser Ahmed Hossain Khan said that life and livelihood in the southwestern region was jeopardized by saline water.
He said that coordinated work by a strong network of stakeholders was needed to protect the area’s population from saline intrusion.
Nobo Jatra’s chief of party Rakesh Katal said that only 52 per cent households in the region have access to safe drinking water compared to the national average of about 90 per cent.
At least 65.5 per cent of the households in the region, said Rakesh, need to walk for half an hour to bring safe drinking water.
And only 42 per cent of the households in the region have access to proper sanitation, he said.
Available water quality causes nutrition deficiency and stunting, said Rakesh.
Disaster Management Department director for research Harun-or-Rashid said that the water crisis was increasing day by day in the region.
He called for development of alternative technology and facilities for storing safe drinking water in the salinity affected region.
Chairing the dialogue, DPHE chief engineer Md Muniruzzaman said that during visits to different areas in Khulna and Satkhira he witnessed
harsh reality and the challenges faced by the people in accessing drinking
water and proper sanitation.
The DPHE would, he said, plan and implement appropriate programs to address the water sanitation issues.
Muniruzzaman said recently saline water treatment plants were installed in the areas affected by saline intrusion.
An arsenic water mitigation programme, he said was underway.
Some of the experts called for storing rain waters in tanks and ponds.
They asked the government to provide water and sanitation funds to the union parishads.
They said that many NOGs were working in the region in an uncoordinated manner and called for coordinating their efforts for better results.