Feasibility study on water supply and sanitation facilities in 148 Pourashava in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is one of the countries with very high population densities. About 50% of the populations live below poverty level in the country. Unemployment situation in the rural areas leads on rush of the people for livelihoods towards urban centres, where they live in sub-standard situation with grossly inadequate service facilities like safe water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and drainage etc. The present water supply coverage in the urban centres is 57%.

The Government of Bangladesh has given importance to water supply and sanitation for protection of environment leading to improved health status and thus this sector has been identified as one of the eight priority agenda in the PRSP. The water supply and sanitation system in newly created Pourashava is not adequate to meet the demand. So it is required to develop the water supply and sanitation system in the Pourashava.

At present total number of Pourashava are 308 out of which 58 are district level, 217 are Upazila level and 33 are growth centre level Pourashava. Till now 93 Pourashavas have been brought under piped water supply system. Work has been going on in 67 new Pourashava and expected to be brought under piped water supply system by 2008. Government has decided to cover the remaining 148 Pourashava phase by phase by 2010. But arsenic contamination in groundwater is a serious problem and hindering the water supply system, which is mainly based on groundwater.

In Bangladesh, the existence of arsenic in ground water was identified in early 1993. But the gravity and extent of the problem was confirmed in mid 1990s. The arsenic in Bangladesh is of geologic origin in ground water. About 95% of the drinking water source is groundwater, drawn mainly from shallow hand pump tube wells. Two random surveys conducted by DPHE with the support of UNICEF & Dfid indicated that the water in about 27% to 29% of hand pump tubewells in the country are arsenic contaminated. About half of the Upazilas are facing arsenic contamination in groundwater. However, the contamination level varies from 1% to over 90%. The recent concluded screening of BAMWSP in 270 Upazilas of the country is showing a contamination level of about 30%.

It is estimated that around 30 million out of 130 million populations are drinking arsenic contaminated water (>50ppb) in absence of alternative water supply options. In this situation before taking new piped water supply project in the Pourashava having no piped water supply system the independent expert Committee formed as per decision of the National Policy on Arsenic Mitigation 2004 implementation Committee decided to undertake a study project for detailed survey and investigation. In this context it is note-worthy to mention that a meeting of the expert committee was held on 16 October 2005 in the Local Govt. Division under the chairmanship of the Secretary. Local Government Division who is the Vice-Chairman of the National Policy implementation Committee for Arsenic Mitigation. According to the decision of the independent Expert Committee the TPP of this project was formulated and approved on 4 November 2007.