Tuesday 5 May 2009

Deadly waters

Deadly waters


Surrounded by rivers, liberally scattered with tube wells and equipped with water treatment plants and a sewage and supply system, Mushfique Wadud unveils the dirty and diseased state of Dhaka’s water system, where gross neglect, lack of repair, shirking of responsibility and hardly any resources allows water contamination at multiple points, leaving the city’s residents with water everywhere but not a drop to drink


photo by Al-Emrun Garjon
‘During the liberation war my mother was going to one of her aunts’ house. She felt thirsty. At that time it was really difficult for her to drink water as she was on her brother’s shoulder.

Suddenly they found a pond, water of which, was simply undrinkable but she had to drink water from that pond and they considered it a safe place. Now when she wants to make ablutions with the water from the WASA supply line, she finds no difference between the bad odours of the two.’ Mita says. She and her family live in Mirpur-6.

Read more at http://www.newagebd.com/2008/oct/31/oct31/xtra_cover.html