I walk half km daily to fetch water

Lutfunnesa is a woman on a mission.

Everyday she wakes up early and heads out to fetch water from another area, which is around half a kilometre from her West Shewrapara residence.

Not only does she have to make the trip multiple times while fasting, carrying the heavy load has also become immensely painful for her.

“I have to go through this ordeal to meet the demand of my family everyday,” she said.

“It is really painful as I remain tired and my entire body aches,” said Lutfunnesa, a resident of Iqbal Road of West Shewrapara.

This has become a regular scenario in the capital's West Shewrapara, where over 1,000 residents are facing a severe water crisis for the last couple of weeks as capacity of a designated pump has been reduced by around 50 percent due to the depletion of the ground water level.

Many have to fetch water from other areas on foot or through rickshaws or rickshaw-vans.

Initially the residents purchased water from Wasa. As the demand grew, residents had to purchase around 20 jars of water everyday spending Tk 800, said Farida, owner of a five-storey building at Pirerbagh Road.

The persons who deliver the water jars take Tk 30 to deliver a jar on the ground floor and Tk 40 for the upper floors, she added.

She said one of her tenants have served her notice that they will leave next month due to the crisis.

“I am also facing the crisis and on top of that have to tolerate my tenants' anger though it is not my fault,” she sighed.

Sikandar, another resident of the area, said, “I am used to taking showers daily. Now if I can manage one after three days, I feel lucky.”

He said it is really painful for the residents as it is the month of Ramadan.

“75 percent of residents of West Shewrapara are facing a water crisis for the last one and a half months,” alleged Osman Ali, a resident of West Shewrapara.

A Wasa official said the ground water level of the pump at Pirerbagh Road has dropped significantly for which the capacity of the production has dropped 50 percent, which is the main reason behind the crisis.

He said installation of a pump is needed on an emergency basis. “We have already requested public representatives of the area to provide land so that we can set up the pump.”

Private secretary of the ward councillor of ward-14 of Dhaka North City Corporation, Shafikur Rahman, said their councillor is now abroad but they are looking for a land desperately to solve the problem.

“We have already selected a land and are trying to purchase it collectively. Purchasing a land for a pump will cost around Tk 70 to 80 lakh. That's why it's taking longer to resolve the issue. But we are trying our best,” he assured.