The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh face a critical health hazard for lack of 'safe drinking water' that forces the country to spend a whopping Tk 50 billion every year for the treatment of water-borne diseases.

Even though Bangladesh is known from ancient times for its abundance of water from various sources, one of the major problems that the country has been suffering for decades is the acute scarcity of 'safe drinking water'.

NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, which works mainly for ensuring safe water and sanitation, said only 74 percent of the country's population have access to safe water free from arsenic and other pollutants.

Eminent author K. Park in his book, 'Text Book of Preventive and Social Medicine' (published from India in 1997), says: "Water is considered 'safe' when it is free from pathogenic agents, free from harmful chemical substances, and pleasant to taste - i.e., ideally free from color and odor, and usable for domestic purposes." A document of World Water Council says 1.1 billion people, nearly one quarter of world population, has no access to 'safe drinking water'.

According to the World Health Organization 1.6 million deaths of children per year can be attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and lack of hygiene. Prior to Bangladesh's independence in 1971, surface water from ponds, lakes and rivers, and to a lesser degree, groundwater from dug wells, were the traditional sources of drinking water for the country's people.

National Sanitation Status, June 2007 states that 97.6 percent of country's population drink piped water as well as from public tap, borehole/tubewell, protected wells, and protected spring or rainwater. The surface water sources often get mixed with highly polluting wastewater from domestic and industrial sources. Many areas of groundwater and surface water are now contaminated with heavy metals, POPs (persistent organic pollutants), and other ingredients that have adverse affect on health. Water-borne diseases and water-caused health problems in the country are mostly due to inadequate and inefficient management of water resources, a water resources expert said.

WHO indicates over 20 water related diseases. These include Anaemia, Arsenicosis, Ascariasis, Campylobacteriosis, Cholera, Cyanobacterial Toxins, Dengue and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, Diarrhoea, Drowning, Fluorosis, Guinea-Worm Disease (Dracunculiasis), Hepatitis, Japanese Encephalitis, Lead Poisoning, Leptospirosis, Malaria, Malnutrition, Methaemoglobinemia, Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Ringworm (Tinea), Scabies, Schistosomiasis, Spinal injury, Trachoma and Typhoid, and Paratyphoid Enteric fevers.

Though no reliable data is available, every year in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people, particularly children, die of cholera, diarrhea, dysentry, typhoid, and other water-borne diseases for lack of 'safe drinking water'.

Banglapedia, a leading encyclopedia in the country, indicates that these diseases account for nearly a quarter of all illnesses in Bangladesh - about 12 percent diarrhoea, and 10 percent other gastro-intestinal illness including enteric fever. Thus water plays a major role in the overall disease profile of the country. National Sanitation Status, June 2007 said that every year Tk 50 billion is spent for the treatment of water-borne diseases in Bangladesh.

It also showed that 28-35 million people are exposed to arsenic contamination above 50 ppb (parts per billion) while 46-57 million others are exposed to arsenic contamination above 10 ppb. WHO has identified the arsenic contamination in Bangladesh as the "largest mass poisoning of a population in history." The number of cases of skin lesions related to drinking water in Bangladesh is estimated at 1.5 million, it said. Experts say 'safe drinking water' is a pre-requisite for reducing the spread of water-borne diseases but many people in the country are being deprived of such safe water due to gradual decrease or contamination.

Hydrogeologist Nurun Nabi, who worked with groundwater (hydro) and surface water, said sources of safe water are being gradually decreased or destroyed as level of groundwater is being contaminated by arsenic and other heavy metals due to unplanned use of water by installation of hand pumps while surface water is being polluted for lack of proper maintenance of domestic and industrial wastes. Former chairman of Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and Professor of Geography and Environment Department Nazrul Islam observed that safe drinking water both in rural and urban areas is under threat as hand tubewells, the major source of water in the rural areas, are being contaminated by arsenic, while piped water in the country's large cities including Dhaka get polluted due to old pipelines and leakage, and for lack of proper maintenance. Nazrul Islam, also the Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), said 35 percent slum dwellers in the big cities including Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna do not get piped water due to certain laws now in force and also shortage of water.

Dhaka WASA sources said it has a capacity of producing 180 crore liters of water daily for the Dhaka city dwellers against the demand of 200 crore liters.

Nazrul Islam stressed the need for taking long-term mega plan identifying alternative sources of safe water and ensuring safe supply and proper purification of water as well as good governance in water management.

Joseph Halder, Chief, Advocacy and Information of NGO Forum, said many strategies and policies like Water Management Plan, National Policy for Safe Water and Sanitation, Sanitation Policy, National Arsenic Mitigation Policy, Pro-Poor Strategy, etc. have been formulated for ensuring safe water and sanitation. But these could not be properly implemented yet due to financial constraints and for lack of coordination among the water, environment and LGRD ministries.

Halder urged all to use alternative technology and water sources like 'ponds and filtration' and 'rainwater harvesting system' to ensure safe drinking water for the huge population across the country.

It is also universally recognized that the prevalence of waterborne diseases can be greatly reduced with the provision of clean drinking water and safe disposal of feces.

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan once said: "We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic healthcare."

A former Director General of WHO, late Dr LEE Jong-wook, had said:

"Water and Sanitation is one of the primary drivers of public health. I often refer to it as "Health 101", which means that once we can secure access to clean water and to adequate sanitation facilities for all people, irrespective of the difference in their living conditions, a huge battle against all kinds of diseases will be won."