Water preservation

We appreciate the Water Resources minister for calling for a more efficient water management system in order to ensure a sustainable water regime but cannot help asking what actions are actually being taken by the authorities to save and protect our water bodies. While it is well and good to make such an appeal, who will, meanwhile, stop the innumerable number of rivers, canals, haors and beels from being encroached upon by powerful people? Who will check the uncontrolled pollution of rivers and canals that has rendered the water unfit for human consumption? How are we going to address the diminishing levels of groundwater, rising salinity and arsenic contamination of water in many parts of the country? 

The media is awash with reports of rivers and canals being filled up by land grabbers for profit. A recent survey shows that all of the major rivers surrounding Dhaka are polluted with non-degradable chemical waste making the water unfit for human consumption. It does not come as a shock that an astounding 60 percent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water and the situation is only getting worse every year. We have to do a better job of preserving natural water by retaining the catchment areas across the country. 

There is no alternative to conserving water bodies if we want to ensure availability of safe drinking water for all. Awareness has to be raised about judicial use of water. Those who pollute indiscriminately should be punished severely.