As it did not put aside land to set up adequate water pumps in the plan, the Rajuk has recently given Dhaka Wasa a space inside a park in Uttara Sector 13 to install one.
Though this has made a part of the lakeside green patch ugly, there was no other space for setting up the facility, said a Rajuk official, seeking anonymity.The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha developed Uttara Model Town Phase-I and II in the 1970s and 1980s without proper planning and foresight. It did not earmark land for some basic civic facilities like kitchen market, school, and garbage management.
In sector 13, there has been only one water pump of the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority for a long time. But, as the number of residents has increased tenfold to 30,000 in the last 13 years in the neighbourhood, the water crisis is getting acuter every year.
“Around 500 residents of the area face water crisis, especially during the dry season, with the population exceeding the capacity,” said Harun-or-Rashid, general secretary of Uttara Sector 13 Kalyan Samity. This crisis has been going on for the last few years, he said.
During every dry season (February-May), these people are compelled to buy water from 60 to 70 water trucks of the Wasa daily, Harun told The Daily Star. “This is why we’ve asked the Wasa and the Rajuk to set up the pump.”
He said parks and playgrounds were very vital for the development of the future generation but they had accepted the situation due to the huge water shortage. The sector 13 park is about half a kilometre long, Harun said.
Talking to The daily Star, Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan said they were setting up the pump inside the park as the Rajuk failed to gave them space elsewhere.
The Wasa pump is being installed on a 50-foot long and 33-foot wide space, said Nur Mohammad, dealer of the company, which is setting up the facility. It will be completed by this month, he added.
-With The Daily Star input
