Water has now become the biggest concern in many villages of the Barind region in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj. The ponds whose water people once used for daily activities are now abandoned. Water no longer comes up from the tube wells in household yards. The deep tube wells that once irrigated acres of farmland now sometimes produce water and sometimes do not. As a result, many areas are facing an acute shortage of drinking water.
Researchers said indiscriminate extraction of groundwater is destroying underground aquifers. As a result, even when there is sufficient rainfall, groundwater is not being replenished. The water crisis is causing the collapse of irrigation systems, increasing the cost of rice cultivation and leaving vast tracts of land uncultivated. People are even struggling to collect drinking water.
In such a situation, the government on 25 August last year declared 1,469 mouzas under 47 unions in 25 upazilas of Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon districts as “areas with extremely high water scarcity.” In addition, 884 mouzas were declared “high water-scarcity areas” and 1,240 mouzas were declared areas with moderate water scarcity.
Following the declaration, a gazette was issued in January imposing strict restrictions on groundwater use. The gazette imposed 11 restrictions, including a ban on installing new tube wells and extracting groundwater for any purpose other than drinking water in the water-stressed areas. However, in reality, the restrictions are not being followed. As a result, the crisis is worsening steadily.
Uchhadanga village in Tanore upazila of Rajshahi is one of the “extremely high water-scarcity” areas. Elderly resident Tajmul Haque, 84, describing his suffering, said, “Earlier we drank pond water. The ponds got ruined. The government installed tube wells. Those did not work. They say there is no water even 1,400 feet below ground. An organisation dug the soil and found a little water in three places. Motors have been installed there. Now the villagers are drinking water from those three points. If this water runs out, we will again have to drink pond water. Otherwise, we will have to leave the area.”
People concerned are speaking of alternative initiatives, including increasing the use of surface water, to deal with the situation. Professor Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan of the Department of Geology and Mining at University of Rajshahi told Prothom Alo that alternative water sources must be arranged quickly on a priority basis. Otherwise, a disastrous situation over water will emerge.
