Mohammadpur residents face acute water crisis
Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
Most households in Mohamm-adpur, an area with over 7 lakh residents, have been facing acute water crisis over the last one month.The residents of entire Mohammadpur are receiving inadequate and irregular water supply. Some of them complained of polluted water containing sand and other particles. Most complaints of water crisis came from the residents of densely populated Sir Syed Road, Tajmahal Road, Zakir Hossain Road, Iqbal Road, Salimullah Road, Sher Shah Suri Road and Nurjahan Road. "We received only a few litres of water each day during the last five days," said Samia Rahman, a housewife residing in Sir Syed Road area. During the period her family survived on water collected from relatives living in nearby areas. But now it has also become difficult as the crisis area is expanding. "We are already facing frequent power outages. And the irregular water supply had added to our sufferings," said a shopkeeper near Asad Gate. Locals complained of total inaction of the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) to resolve the water crisis. Some house owners are buying water from the Wasa vehicles. "We have to buy around 6,000 litres of water daily for the entire building," said Nuru, the guard of a three-storied building near Asad gate. The most affected people are the slum dwellers living near Mohammadpur Town Hall, the residents of Geneva Camp, Nurjahan Road and Tajmahal Road. "We had to wait in long queues to collect water from tube-wells for the last few weeks," said a resident of Nurjahan road. In summer the demand for water increases but the supply decreases, causing immense suffering to the city dwellers. Some residents in the area complained of the water being dirty. "We find sand and other particles in water even after boiling it for hours," said Samia Rahman. Others alleged that the water is contaminated with germs that cause dysentery, diarrhoea, jaundice, hepatitis and other waterborne diseases. Wasa officials pointed out that the layer of underground water is gradually falling beyond the reach of the deep tube-wells that can pump out water from 60.25 meters. "This is why the supply has decreased," a senior official said.
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