62% of Dhaka service seekers victims of Wasa graft: TIB

Sixty-two per cent of Dhaka’s connection seekers fall prey to corruption in Wasa, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said today.

The people become victims of graft while trying to secure supply of water or sewerage line from the state-run utility company, it said in a press briefing.

The graft takes place in mutual convenience, as a result of which it is difficult to identify the actual corrupt person, said TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman.

“But, it is still possible for Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to unearth these rampant grafts,” he said in the briefing arranged to publish the report.

According to its study, Wasa is 78 per cent dependent on underground source for water supply to the 1.7 crore population in Dhaka. For the rest, water is purified.

“Still 91 per cent of Dhaka’s population boils the water to make it drinkable. But it should not be the case. Wasa water should be drinkable and contamination-free,” the report said.

“Fuel worth Tk 332 crore is being spent on an average every month by the people to make Wasa water drinkable,” it said in the report.

TIB said, the Wasa remains beyond accountability.

Due to the deficiency of Wasa water, 45 per cent of the Dhaka population gets less than the required amount of water, it said in the report.

The slum dwellers get 71 per cent less water than they need in their daily activities, it said.

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) union makes untoward interferes in Wasa’s activities which also makes desired governance difficult, it added.