Taps run dry in Kazipara of Dhaka for 2 months

Over 1,000 families living in North and East Kazipara in the capital have been facing a severe water crisis for about two months.

According to residents and officials of Dhaka Wasa, the main reason behind the crisis is ongoing work to replace old water pipelines.

Locals said some of them have not been receiving even a drop of water in the last two months, while others are getting very dirty water which is unusable.

AKM Shahid Uddin, director of Dhaka Wasa's water supply sector development project, said they will set up new pipelines with a total length of 54km, adding that out of the total length, they have already set up 12km pipelines.

He said when settings up the new pipelines, some existing ones in Road-6 of North Kazipara were damaged which were repaired later.

Shahid Uddin said the problem was temporary and they are working at top speed to set up the pipelines and start supplying water as usual.                  

He added that they have already started supplying water through the new lines set up.

Like many other residents, Morsheda has to regularly get five buckets of water every day from trucks of Wasa which have been providing water to the residents on a temporary basis.

The trucks are parked on the main road and they supply water through pipes that branch off to smaller roads, bringing the water closer to households. 

She said it takes about 20 minutes for her to go and get one bucket of water and she has to do this five times a day along with other household chores. 

Tarabanu, a nine-year-old domestic worker, said carrying buckets of water every day is a huge chore for her.

Mohammad Rezaul Karim, another resident of the area, said recently they brought out a short procession demanding supply of water, but had to disperse after the local police intervened.

He said afterwards some people started getting water but it was dirty and unusable.

Md Polash, owner of a two-storey building in East Kazipara, said although Wasa is also providing free water in tanks, it takes two to three days for a household to get a tank of water after applying for it. 

He said Wasa gives around 50 tanks of water every day.