Dhaka short of water

2010-04-11 06:35:27 - The falling of water table and lack of power to run water pumps have caused a serious shortage of drinking water
in Dhaka, with hundreds of residents marching in the streets daily with empty pitchers and demanding government action.

Bangladesh deployed troops to distribute drinking water on Wednesdy among the capital's more than 12 million people, after lawmakers had warned that growing public discontent over a water crisis could lead to unrest.

'How can we pump enough water while there is no electricity to run the pumps' said an official of the Dhaka water and sewage authority (WASA'Many pumps
remain shut or cannot operate up to their capacities because of a shortage of power' said the official, who asked not to be identified.The WASA says it is now able to supply only 1.8 billion litres of water in the capital a day, against a demand of 2.4 billion litres, due to frequent power cuts and a fall in groundwater levels.
Dhaka WASA officials say lack of generators is one of the main reasons for the city's existing water as hot weather is giving rise to greater electricity demand to power fans and ACs, which in turn is leading to more frequent load shedding.

There are 546 pumps under the Dhaka Water Supply Authority, but almost half – 253 – do not have back-up generators, making them non-functional during the frequent periods of power outage in the capital.

WASA chairman Gholam Moustafa told bdnews24.com on Wednesday that WASA has completed a tender, and the results will go to the government's purchase committee for approval. He said the cost of the generators will be around Tk 55 crore.No date has yet been set for the purchase committee meeting – which is chaired either by prime minister Sheikh Hasina or finance minister AMA Muhith.

Moustafa said that "even if the purchase committee agreed today to allow us to go ahead and purchase the generators, WASA would not get the generators for 4 or 5 months as they must come from outside Bangladesh".

Prof. Qazi Matin Ahmed, a hydrologist and groundwater specialist at Dhaka University's department of geology, said that WASA should have started the tender procedure much earlier.

"The electricity shortage happens every summer. This kind of situation we are seeing today was foreseeable. We should have had generators in place now."

Earlier, on 31 March, Moustafa had told bdnews24.com that the water shortage could "easily be solved" if it had more generators.
Media agencies