Six Upazilas In Bagerhat: Water crisis grips oastal areas

The residents of six coastal upazilas under Bagerhat district are grappling with an acute crisis for fresh water for domestic consumption since the onset of dry season.

There is a dire lack of fresh water from the local sources including ponds amid the dry spell in Sadar, Rampal, Mongla, Morrelganj, Sarankhola and Kachua upazilas, said locals.

There are no deep tube wells in Kachua, Morrelganj, Sarankhola, and Mongla upazilas due to salinity and depleted groundwater levels,  they also said.

Photo: Star

In addition, approximately half of the pond sand filters (PSFs) installed in the six upazilas are out of order, making the situation worse.

Therefore, health risks from water-borne diseases have arisen among the residents as they are being compelled to consume untreated pond water.

PSF is a manually operated treatment unit, based on the principle of slow sand filtration. Water is pumped up from the pond by a handpump and is poured into a small concrete tank, having more compartments, of which one is the filter chamber filled with the sand.

According to the Department of Public Health Engineering, the government   agency alongside different voluntary organisations installed a total of 2,799 PSFs in the upazilas since 1992-93.

Of those, at least 1,326 are unusable at present.

In the last five years, 42 PSFs were installed for Tk 22 lakh and 155 solar PSFs for Tk 9.5 crore. Also, 36,550 rainwater harvesting tanks were distributed among people in the district for Tk 146.2 crore.

"We harvest rainwater during the monsoon for drinking and cooking without much problem. However, during the dry season, we experience an acute water crisis, especially with the PSFs in the area being out of order. We are now compelled to use untreated pond water for consumption and it causes numerous health complications including diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain," said Pabitra Das from Sangdia village in Kachua.

Dilip Das of the same village, said, "Since we are surrounded by saline water in the coastal areas, ponds are our main source of fresh water. There is a ban on fish farming in the area's ponds, but it is still being done secretly, which is deteriorating the quality of water."

Paritosh Das and Malati Das from Sangdia village echoed the same.

Locals urged the authorities concerned to repair the PSFs and provide sufficient number of tanks for storing rainwater among the residents.

Nakib Foysal Ohid, chairman of Badhal Union Parishad, said, "The PSFs in Abad, Panbaria, Raghudottokanthi areas under my union are in urgent need of repairs to ease the ongoing water crisis."

Contacted, Jayanta Mallik, executive engineer of public health engineering department in Bagerhat, said distribution of tanks for harvesting rainwater is continuing in the coastal upazilas to keep the situation under control.

"Besides, we are installing deep tube wells in many areas... We are working to repair the PSFs, while also supplying water to the residents through water purifying trucks," he added.