Fall in the groundwater level as well as frequent power outages have triggered an acute water crisis in the Khulna city, causing sufferings to the city dwellers.
According to managing director of Khulna WASA Md Abdullah, about 15 lakh city dwellers are being supplied with 4.9 crore litres of water against the daily demand for 24 crore litres of water.
The crisis may further deepen, he apprehended.
According to the executive engineer of Khulna WASA Md Rezaul Islam, there are 80 large production wells, 227 kilometre pipelines and 15,000 water connections in the city covering an area of 47 square kilometres.
Besides, there are 3,748 deep tube wells and 5,532 shallow ones under the Khulna WASA that also supply water to the city subscribers, he said.
Many subscribers have alleged that most of water pumps, owned by the Khulna WASA, are outdated and go out of order frequently.
WASA takes long time to get these pumps repaired from Dhaka as it is not possible in Khulna, they added.
Managing director Md Abdullah blamed frequent load shedding of electricity and fluctuation in voltage for the pumps going out of order very often.
‘We are going to buy 40 new pumps in a bid to address the crisis of water,’ he said.
There are allegations that illegal water connections are also among the reasons behind water crisis in the city.
Underground water level in the city has fallen by about 35 feet during dry season, said Shamim Arefin, executive director of a Khulna-based NGO working on safe drinking water.
Besides these reasons, the surface water treatment plant in Khulna has been lying inoperative for the past ten years because of technical fault, which is also contributing to the existing water crisis.
Managing director of the regional utility agency said the Asian Development Bank would provide soft loan of $75 million for implementation of a potable water facility project for the Khulna city dwellers.
Implementation of the project is expected to be completed by 2017 with a view to ensuring improved access to safe water, he added.
newagebd
-with New Age input
