Water crisis worsens in rural Chattogram
Residents of different rural areas under 15 upazilas in Chattogram are grappling with an acute crisis of water.
Around 24,055 tube wells in the upazilas have become dysfunctional as the groundwater level has depleted significantly amid the ongoing hot spell.
People are being compelled to collect water, often untreated and contaminated with arsenic, from different other sources.
Heavy industries and small factories have long been extracting groundwater with high-power submersible pumps to meet their huge daily production needs, locals alleged.
This has led to the depletion of the groundwater level significantly, results in water crisis during dry season every year, they added. Sometimes no water is found even at 250-350 feet depth underground.
Among the 15 upazilas, there are around 300 large and small factories in Sitakunda alone.
"Most tube wells at our village are not working. We are collecting water from people who have personal deep tube wells," said Subhasish Acharya, a resident of Raozan's Kadalpur union.
The situation in Banshkhali is different. While some tube wells are working, the water is highly saline and unusable.
Sifadul Islam from Khankhanabad union in the upazila, said, "We collect water usually from ponds in the area for our daily needs."
According to the January report of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), Chattogram district has a total of 100,423 tube wells. Of these, only 76,368 are currently functional. Moreover, the groundwater table has been declining by two-five metres every year.
According to DPHE officials, in many areas of the Banshkhali, Lohagara, and Patiya upazilas, the groundwater table has depleted so much that water can only be found after digging 600-700 feet deep.
In the areas under Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas, the situation is even worse, the report added.
The DPHE had installed 350 tube wells in Charkanai, Hulain, Panchria, and Habilasdwip villages under Habilasdwip union of Patiya upazila to alleviate water crisis for around 30,000 residents.
However, these tube wells became dysfunctional soon afterwards due to rampant extraction of groundwater by eight industrial establishments in the vicinity.
After the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Society filed a writ petition in this regard, the court declared the union a "crisis area".
Palash Chandra Das, executive engineer of DPHE in Chattogram, said, "The gap between the extent by which groundwater is being extracted and replenished is huge."
"Currently, water is unavailable in most manual tube wells installed a long time ago, thereby increasing dependency on deep tube wells. Once the monsoon comes, the water level will rise to alleviate the crisis. Until then, we have to wait as there is no immediate remedy," he said.
"A deep water pump can meet the water demand of up to 100 families. Such pumps are now being used to irrigate croplands as summer is the peak time for cultivation. Also, increasing use of deep tube wells by factories has made it a challenge for us," Palash added.
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